Effect of Malt Liquor on Health - Research Paper Example

? 14 May How malt liquor is bad for health? This paper is primarily based on a largely spoken and controversial issue regarding myriad ill effects produced on an individual’s health by malt liquor. This issue has been widely publicized through media and research reports with most of the results siding with the fact that the type of adverse effects produced by malt liquor are too significant and phenomenal to be overlooked. This paper is an effort to scrutinize and highlight those injurious effects while also comparing two popular malt beverage brands Joose and Four Loko, identifying major differences between them, and weighing the ill effects produced by one brand against those of other. The variety of injurious health effects produced by Four lokos is so abnormally huge that this particular brand of malt liquor was even banned from being sold in the market. A range of heart and blood pressure problems originate from consuming malt liquors. This is a sad reality that many malt liquors are marketed to children by masking the overwhelmingly bitter taste of alcohol with fruit flavors and people have certainly no idea about their markedly high alcohol content. People most often have no information how inebriated they are concerning the high level of stimulants contained in those liquors. The following discussion illuminates the majorly researched ill health effects produced by malt liquors. (Bellamy) stresses on the adverse results produced by consuming malt liquor Joose by mentioning that a large percentage of health researchers have linked Joose drinking and impaired mental performance due to which motor vehicle accidents result. Impaired or loose driving is one of the most fatal and common results produced by consuming Joose liquor. This disaster result occurs because alcohol is potentially capable of acting on the optic nerve in myriad ways due to which fake comprehension of distances and delayed recovery from glare are experienced by the consumer. Now, the fact is that the alcohol content of Joose is remarkably high for producing the risk of crashing while driving. The brand “Joose” was introduced by United Brands Co. as a caffeinated energy drink and it gained instant popularity among youth especially regarding the high alcohol content it offered. The Joose drinks are advertised as premium quality malt beverages with alcohol content ranging from “9-12% ABV” in 24oz. cans, which roughly equals alcohol content of wine. (Buzz Brands). A more reliable source claims that 24 oz. Joose cans contain 9-9.9 percent alcohol depending on the flavor. (Joose: Steel Reserve Killer). Here, the brand Four Loko clearly differs from Joose because it contains even higher alcohol content (and is capable of intoxicating an individual even more. This is because people new to malt liquor initially go for Joose and only after developing tolerance for that, they turn to Four Loko’s. Four Loko energy drinks have been the subject of critical legal, moral, and health concerns regarding the high alcohol content and injurious combination of caffeine and alcohol. “Four Loko has as much caffeine as two eight-ounce cups of coffee, and has 12 percent alcohol by volume.” (Johnson). This comparison of two of the most popular brands Joose and Four Lokos gives an insight into how the marketers of alcohol-based energy drinks rigorously try to outrun each other in increasing the alcohol content in an order to survive in the market. But, the sad reality is that this ferocious trend adopted by the marketers proves to be injurious and also fatal for the consumers, eventually. There has been much controversy and legal issues related to marketing of Joose and Four Loko drinks. The US state attorneys began investigation of companies selling alcohol-based energy drinks like United Brands Co. and Phusion noticing their rise in market share. This rise in market share occurred because the brands Joose and Four Loko were particularly marketed to teenage consumers, who began using these drinks increasingly for remaining calm while alert also for performing various errands. This combination of calmness and alertness resulted because of the combination of alcohol and caffeine, which can pose great health risks by disguising feelings of intoxication. As more and more distressing incidents regarding injuries and blackouts among the college students owing to excessive drinks’ use began to be reported, the state of Washington banned Four Loko in 2010. Nine university students had to be hospitalized after consuming Four Loko drinks at a party and their blood alcohol levels ranged from 0.12 percent to 0.35%, which is a remarkably high level and potentially capable of causing death. One of them, with a blood alcohol level of 0.3%, even died during hospitalization. (Dininny). According to a college student (cited in Dininny), Four Loko’s high alcohol-based energy drinks gives an individual to reach a state of instant intoxication coupled with significant wakefulness, making sure that no immediate drowsiness occurs. Drinks like Four Loko and Joose have been considered to present “public health concern” by US Food and Drug Administration regarding the deliberate addition of caffeine to these malt alcoholic beverages, so warning letters were issued to the makers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages including United Brands Co. and Phusion, in late 2010. (FDA NEWS RELEASE). Caffeine is clearly an injurious food additive when added to malt beverages, because it induces the heart to perform two opposite functions. It is also because an individual needs to realize how much alcohol he/she has exactly consumed after drinking malt alcoholic beverages to assess their level of intoxication and caffeine restrains them from gauging that level by masking the sensory cues. The mixing of caffeine and alcohol in drinks like Joose and Four Loko gives the consumer an illusion that he/she may not be drinking as much alcohol as may be considered lethal. Considering this major lethal health effect produced by such malt liquors, The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board was also forced to send warning letters to 17000 beer manufacturers, the most popular among public of which were the brands Four Loko and Joose. (Maye and Seibenaler). Four Loko is also commonly known among youth to be the liquid cocaine owing to the feeling of instant and intense high it gives. Coming to the harmful effects produced by consuming such malt liquors, this grave reality is worth mentioning that young inexperienced users who start drinking malt liquor habitually, are at higher risk of abusing substances like marijuana and cocaine than those who do not fall for drinking malt liquors. Malt liquor is sadly most often targeted at teenage audience who are inexperienced and at greater risk for being attracted to such drinks, which are sold at cheaper rates while containing considerably higher alcohol content. This combination of low rates and high alcohol content makes malt liquors an immediate source of attraction to the college going teenagers. The chronic use of malt liquor forms the base of most of the alcohol problems reported at the hospitals and alcohol rehabilitation centers. In a research study including 639 young adults, “61 percent of participants reported that they drank one to two 40-ounce containers of malt liquor in a typical drinking session.” (Preidt). Also, those participants mentioned marijuana to be the drug of choice for abusing along with drinking malt liquor. These horrific results clearly suggest that those individuals, who unconditionally consume malt liquor, are at higher risk of abusing drugs thus complicating the health problems even more. It is understandable that the body’s system gets very confused after one consumes alcohol-based energy drinks or malt liquors like Joose and Four Loko. This is because the combination of alcohol and caffeine significantly raises the risk factor, thus producing many harmful effects on the body. Caffiene, being a stimulant raises the heart rate while alcohol, being a depressant reduces the heart rate. This means that the heart is pressured to perform two opposite functions after malt liquors are ingested. Following excessive Joose or Four Loko drinking, as happens most of the times in binge drinking which is quite common among college students, an individual may suffer from heart attack which occurs because of the remarkably increased heart rate after the initial high produced by high amounts of caffeine. Even if an individual survives that frightening episode of exploding heart, severe respiratory depression may occur later produced by high levels of alcohol in the blood. It is worth mentioning here that alcohol consumption in the body is restrained by caffeine, thus high amounts of alcohol accumulate in the blood. Summing up, this much becomes clear from the above discussion that the trend of marketing malt liquors like Joose and Four Loko at cheaper rates while maintaining a high alcohol content tends to be particularly disastrous for the young age group in the society. The horrible effects produced on the body after excessively consuming such drinks are numerous and which cannot be overlooked. The notorious and contradictory alert-but-relaxed feeling is a great attraction offered by such drinks to the young consumers. Illogical behavior, blackouts, hangovers, and increased heart rate are some of the many harmful effects produced on the body by consuming such drinks. Works cited: Bellamy, Bryn. “Calories in Joose Alcohol.” 2010. Web. 14 May. 2011. < http://www.livestrong.com/article/314574-calories-in-joose-alcohol/> “Buzz Brands.” 15 Mar. 2007. Web. 14 May. 2011. Dininny, Shannon. “Four Loko Sickened Several Central Washington University Students.” HUFFPOST COLLEGE. 25 Oct. 2010. Web. 14 May. 2011. FDA NEWS RELEASE. “FDA Warning Letters issued to four makers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages.” 17 Nov. 2010. Web. 14 May. 2011. Maye, Fran and Seibenaler, Lindsay. “Liquor Control Board warns of dangers of Four Loko and Joose.” 17 Nov. 2010. Web. 14 May. 2011. Johnson, Jenna. “Drinking one Four Loko is like drinking ...” The Washington Post. 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 14 May. 2011. “Joose: Steel Reserve Killer”. n.d. Web. 14 May. 2011. < http://www.thedrunkpirate.com/2008/10/26/joose-steel-reserve-killer-or-glorified-wine-cooler/#> Preidt, Robert. “Malt Liquor Drinkers at Higher Risk for Substance Abuse: Study.” abcNEWS. 25 July. 2007. Web. 14 May. 2011. Read More