(ENGLEWOOD) – Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) on Wednesday released the following statement after the manufacturer of the caffeinated alcohol drink Four Loko announced it will remove caffeine from its products.
Vainieri Huttle has sponsored legislation (A-3437) that would prohibit the sale, delivery, receiving and purchasing for resale of caffeinated alcoholic beverages in New Jersey.
The beverages became a particular concern on college campuses. For instance, at Ramapo College students were hospitalized for alcohol poisoning soon after the start of the fall semester after using the drink:
“As the sponsor of legislation that would have banned this product, I’m pleased that the manufacturer has finally done the responsible thing and listened to the concerns of parents and lawmakers, but this is only a start.
“These drinks are dangerous in many ways, but especially because the caffeine can hide the effects of alcohol, leading people to continue drinking without realizing how intoxicated they have become. They lack any socially redeeming purpose. The only purpose they serve, from what I can tell, is to allow people to become dangerously and rapidly intoxicated.
“But we must now keep watch to ensure manufacturers don’t try to find another way to produce and promote such drinks, and hopefully college students and others will take this decision as a chance to be careful about the products they use, especially if they contain alcohol.”