Alcohol plus caffeine may equal DUIs; Attorneys general warn mix in energy drinks can mask intoxication, could put more drunks on road

Beer companies are targeting young consumers with new drinkscontaining a potent mix of alcohol and caffeine.

These alcoholic energy drinks, including Miller Brewing's Sparksand Anheuser-Busch's Bud Extra, are raising concerns that caffeinemasks the intoxicating effect of alcohol.

Drunks "may falsely believe that they can continue to drink andfunction without impairment, even behind the wheel of a car,"Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and 29 other state attorneysgeneral wrote in a letter to the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax andTrade Bureau.

The trend began when bartenders started mixing Red Bull, anonalcoholic energy drink popular with youth, with vodka.

Now, companies are combining energy and alcohol in one drink.It's a cheap, convenient alternative -- but critics say it's alsodangerous.

The attorneys general noted a recent study in which 26 youngpeople reported feeling less headache, dry mouth and impairmentafter drinking Red Bull and vodka than they did after drinkingalcohol alone. However, tests measuring coordination and visualreaction showed they were just as impaired.

The study was published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical andExperimental Research.

"It's totally irresponsible to market these kinds of products tokeep young people drinking longer," said George Hacker of the Centerfor Science in the Public Interest.

The energy drinks typically contain higher alcohol contents thanregular beer. Liquid Charge, for example, is 6.9 percent alcohol byvolume. Most beers are less than 5 percent. Liquid Charge also hasas much caffeine as a cup of coffee.

Alcoholic energy drinks also contain such ingredients as ginseng,an herbal stimulant, and guarana, a tropical fruit.

The drinks account for less than 1 percent of the beer industrymarket. But sales are expected to increase 50 percent this year, to$100 million, said Charge Beverages president Tim Baggs.

Brewers say they target consumers only over age 21. "Weresponsibly market our products to legal drinking age consumers,"Miller said.

And Anheuser-Busch vice president Francine Katz said caffeinatedalcohol drinks "are nothing new. For years, adults have enjoyed rumand Coke, Irish coffee and liqueurs mixed with coffee."

"The way to fight illegal underage drinking is not to limitproduct choices for adults," Katz said. "Rather, the key ispreventing youth access to alcohol."

This year, Anheuser-Busch ran afoul of attorneys general overSpykes, an energy drink with 12 percent alcohol. Spykes came infruit and chocolate flavors favored by young people and was sold in2-ounce bottles easily concealed in pockets or purses.

In May, the company announced it would stop selling Spykesbecause of "limited volume potential and unfounded criticism."

jritter@suntimes.com