Alcohol, Energy Drinks Dangerous, Watchdog Says

The Marin Institute, an alcohol watchdog group, on Thursday issued a barrage of criticism against the alcohol industry for its alcohol containing energy drinks. The Marin press release indicated that the drinks are particularly harmful to youth in several ways.

For starters, the alcoholic energy drinks are getting customers from the energy drink market that has been building up in recent years and that has a large number of youthful constituents. 

Secondly, the drinks are sugary, bubbling and tasty, and come in colorful packaging that appeals to young people - especially young women. (A combination side effect of this marketing and packaging is that parents and even retail sales people and police are not always aware of which energy drinks contain alcohol due to the similar graphics on alcohol containing and non-alcoholic energy drinks.)

Thirdly, the energy part of the drink masks the recognizable effects of alcohol making it harder for young people to monitor how inebriated they are.

Some of the areas in which young people are more at risk after consuming alcohol energy drinks are those in which youth already have higher levels of risk than adults: traffic accidents, suicide, violence and sexual assault. Experts indicate that the stimulation effects of caffeine in energy drinks makes it particularly difficult for young people to judge the effects of alcohol on their capacities and judgment.

The report that is referred to in the Marin Institute Press Release can be downloaded from The Marin Institute website ( http://www.marininstitute.org/ ).