Specifically in Washington, beer with caffeine, hey wasn't that a Drew Carey Show idea, is now prohibited in the state. Now the government baby sitters are comparing these drinks to Joe Camel. That's right. Remember Joe--the camel that led to the prohibition of animals in advertising for cigarettes?
"It's no different than the kind of appeal that Joe Camel had to our kids when it came to cigarettes," Governor and babysitter Chris Gregoire said Wednesday.
Alcoholic energy drinks drew national attention after an October party in Roslyn, a picturesque mountain town known as the place where part of the 1990s television series "Northern Exposure" was filmed.
Nine Central Washington University students who drank Four Loko were hospitalized with blood-alcohol levels ranging from 0.12 percent to 0.35 percent, and a female student nearly died, university President James L. Gaudino said. A blood-alcohol concentration of 0.30 percent is considered potentially lethal.
Um, don't they call that binge drinking? You mean other products don't pose that risk either, not even Barcardi 151, which is more than 75% alcohol and flammable according to some friends?
Sorry, just don't approve of the governor's actions. Her actions ignore the fact these kids were college kids engaged in the dangerous activity of binge drinking on college campuses. While I don't advocate this behavior, I am not sure how punishing a company for making a legal product is just. As well, I have to worry about a governor who chooses to attack a product and demand it be removed from the shelves without the approval of her legislature.
She's not the only one playing baby sitter. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Wednesday for a ban in his state.
Yet, look what gets little mention in the story. The students were also smoking pot. Yet, the legal malt beverage product is the enemy in this.
Also notice how these kids are the victims in this story, yet they were all underage--17 to 19 years old. Guess who's going to pay, the manufacture who got FDA approval and wholesaled the product to a business they believed was going to card these kids.
The ban is good for 120 days. Washington may look to make it a permanent ban. And so when these drinks are gone, and the next bunch of underage kids going on a binge drinking rampage that takes them near death, what will be the next product gone?
While this seems to come with good intentions, there are not good intentions when a government attempts to babysit its people. And besides, what stops these kids from buying the energy drinks and adding large amounts of alcohol to the energy drink the next time? Kids are usually more clever than government officials when it comes to these things. I also wonder how many college kids are buying this off the shelves right now knowing they won't be able to get it next week.
