Published November 15, 2010
Four Loko alcoholic energy drinks (Elaine Thompson/AP)
Universal Hub reports the Boston City Council may be going Loko:
City councilors John Connolly and Mark Ciommo — whose Allston/Brighton district is loaded with the sort of people who might drink the stuff — want to convene a session to consider “any appropriate action” the city could take against Four Loko.
Four Loko is the carbonated energy drink with as much alcohol as a bottle of wine and as much caffeine as a six-pack of Diet Coke. Each can carries seven warning labels.
What’s known as “blackout in a can” is popular with the college set. On Halloween, a Northeastern student was hospitalized after drinking Four Loko and vodka (c’mon, really?) at an MIT party.
New York state has banned the drink, and other states may follow suit. (My question is: Can Boston ban the sale of a beverage that is legal? I am not a lawyer.)
The company behind Four Loko, Phusion Projects of Chicago, says alcohol-caffeine drinks are safe and not novel. The company has written an open letter to state and federal regulators asking for fair treatment amid the media hype.
Update: The state plans to file new regulations Friday that would effectively ban Four Loko in Massachusetts, WBZ reports.