Energy Drinks and Alcohol: A Deadly Mix

15 years ago, most Americans had never heard of an Energy drink. But, due to clever grassroots advertising with a focus on Generation Xers and the teen population, what was the coffee boom of the nineties became the energy drink boom of the 2000s.

Just walk into any grocery or convenience store and you can see the shelf space that used to hold sodas or juices is shrinking, while names like Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, Spike (and literally hundreds of others) are growing every year. It’s clear from the numbers: Americans, especially young Americans, love energy drinks.

And it didn’t take long for bar owners to recognize this love, and begin mixing energy drinks with alcohol. For example, the most popular drink, by simply mixing Red Bull and vodka, a bartender can make a fast and easy sugary drink with a hidden alcohol taste, perfect for a young drinker.

Add in a caffeine boost that will keep his young patrons awake and partying until closing time, and it’s a guaranteed winner. For most bar owners around the country, keeping a supply of energy drinks in their bars has become as important as having limes handy.

Success like this in the bars has not gone unnoticed by the major alcohol producers, and they have quickly begun to fill this new niche in stores. In fact the two largest American brewing companies, Miller and Anheuser-Busch have both created lines of there own pre-mixed alcohol/energy drinks that you may have seen on the shelves: “Sparks” and “Tilt” respectively. Unfortunately, you may not have been able to tell that these were alcoholic drinks. Their packaging is so similar to non-alcoholic energy drinks that it’s been suggested that cashiers might not even think to ask for an ID when selling them to minors*. 

As pointed out in the 2007 Marin Institute study Alcohol, Energy Drinks, and Youth: A Dangerous Mix, the marketing campaign for these new alcoholic energy drinks is almost identical to the non-alcoholic versions. Namely, the alcohol companies target teens and young adults.

By following the same marketing trend of the non-alcoholic energy drinks, the same ideas are being pushed for the alcoholic energy drinks as well. The overall theme being: the drinks will sharpen the drinkers’ senses, make them react quicker, and be more alert. But, just as the theory that giving coffee to a drunk will sober them up has been proven wrong, so has the idea that an energy drink will counter the effects of alcohol. In fact, a new study by the University of Florida has shown that energy drinks actually lead to an increase in the likelihood of intoxication and drunk driving.

During the study, the researchers surveyed late night bar goers in a college town and administered Breathalyzer tests to determine their level of intoxication. Energy drinkers averaged a blood alcohol content of 0.109 which is over 20% above the legal limit for being considered intoxicated. One of the reasons for this higher rate of intoxication is that energy drinkers were more likely to drink later than other patrons. The second factor discussed in the study was the energy drinkers’ willingness to drive even though they were intoxicated. Unfortunately, studies have shown that a feeling of being more “alert” from the caffeine does not make for a safer driver, just one more likely to drive drunk.

Please remember this next time you see a friend decide to drive after drinking, especially if they were drinking energy drinks, as they are more likely not to realize how intoxicated they are.

And if you are concerned about your drinking problem and would like to clean up and get help, call us today at 866-540-5242 to  have all your questions answered and start on the road to a life free of alcohol.

*(Look at the difference between the alcoholic Rockstar21 can and the non-alcoholic Rockstars on the attached photo and you will see how deceptive the advertising can be.)