Caffeinated cocktails: A scary mix

Earlier this year, Pullman Police took an 18-year-old woman to the hospital with a blood/alcohol level of .4, five times the .08 legal driving limit and higher than what the state considers intoxicated.

Since he started working with the Pullman Police in the 1960's, Police Chief Ted Weatherly's seen a growth in the average blood/alcohol level around Pullman.

"When I was a young police officer, when we had someone with a .3 blood/alcohol level we thought they were gonna' die," Weatherly said.

It is now almost a weekly occurrence for Pullman Regional Hospital to take in patients for alcohol-related problems, where they can pay up to $5,000 for less than 24 hours of hospital supervision.

The hospital takes in about 80 people a year because of high levels of intoxication, and more than half of the hospital's trauma cases involve alcohol, said Dr. Richard Caggiano, chief medical officer and director of emergency services for Pullman Regional Hospital.

Weatherly said he has a theory as to what is changing what was Pullman's average drinking scene into one of binge-drinking.

"It's the mixing of energy drinks in my opinion that allows this higher consumption and thus the dangerously high blood/alcohol content," Weatherly said.

Patricia Maarhuis, Washington State University Alcohol and Drug Counseling, Assessment, and Prevention Services program coordinator, said drinking has become like a national sport. The players drink to the point of blackout and take various stimulants from prescription pills to caffeine and sugar filled energy drinks in order stay awake and drink more alcohol, she said.

The problem with consuming liquor and energy drinks at the same time is it keeps intoxicated people awake and functioning, at least to the point where they can continue to drink, Maarhuis said.

"It's an antagonistic combination, mixing a depressant and a stimulant," Maarhuis said. "Some people think caffeine cancels out the alcohol. What they don't understand is that it just masks the symptomology it just masks it so you can drink to higher levels of intoxication than you normally do."

Chief Weatherly recognized other stimulants such as prescription drugs are a major factor , but said it's the energy drinks he is finding hard to combat. How can the police regulate the sale and consumption of energy drinks, a legal product?

"We've looked at the law, there's not much we can do," Weatherly said. "We actually have discussed it with liquor control, but there's no way we can control it legally."

Caggiano likened drinking energy-drink cocktails to drinking alcohol and coffee at the same time.

"I don't think there's any special interaction between the alcohol and what's in the energy drink," Caggiano said. "Mostly these energy drinks keep you awake when you would normally go back to your house or apartment and crash."

For a large male to reach a .4 blood/alcohol level, he would have to take at least 20 standard-size drinks within an hour, Caggiano said.

The bodily effects of having a .4 blood/alcohol level depends on the individual's tolerance levels, Caggiano said, but it can cause respiratory failure and even cause someone to aspirate, inhaling stomach contents and fluid into the bronchi and lungs.

"We have had a few people who would have very clearly died had they not been brought to us," Caggiano said.

Energy cocktails can't be found everywhere in Pullman. Rico's downtown, for example doesn't serve energy drinks with liquor. Manager Tawny Szumlas said the drinks were so popular, they probably wouldn't be able to buck the trend for long and still keep customers happy.

"Yes, we've had people leave because we don't have 'em," Szumlas said. "Eventually, yeah, everybody will have energy drinks."

Stubblefields, a bar nestled near Greek housing and a never-ending supply of thirsty Washington State University students serves three shot-type drinks that include the energy drink, Rockstar. Rockstar contains 80 milligrams of caffeine per 8 ounce serving, about the same caffeine content as a drip-brewed cup of coffee.Stubblefield's serves the Touchdown (mandarin vodka and Rockstar), the Gladiator (Southern Comfort whiskey and Rockstar) and the Spider Bite (tequila and Rockstar) each with about 4 ounces of Rockstar. If, like in Caggiano's theoretical scenario, a large man drank 20 beverages in under an hour and about half of those drinks included the alcoholic energy shots, that man would be full of 400 milligrams of caffeine, or four cups of coffee in under an hour - not to mention whatever else the remaining 10 drinks were. But not all energy drink cocktails are created equal. Another popular drink served at Stubblefields contains about twice as much Rockstar and twice as many shots of liquor. The vodka Rockstar has two shots of booze and about 6-8 ounces of the energy drink.Stubblefields Manager DJ Goldfinger said the bar cut down on their energy drink variety and served less Rockstar in their drinks. "We had all different types of energy drinks, but now we still serve energy drinks we just serve it at a minimum," Goldfinger said.

The change at Stubblefields came about mostly because of a conversation the owners had with Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson. Johnson's concerns about the rising blood/alcohol levels in Pullman mirrored Chief Weatherly's and Johnson said he would like to see bars voluntarily prohibit the sale of energy drinks after 11 p.m.

"I would like to see if they could cut it off earlier so when bars close at 2 o'clock, we don't have a whole bunch of people awake an agitated," Johnson said.

Johnson said he would like to see WSU continue to educate students on the dangers of mixing energy drinks, in hopes it will curtail the number of people sent to the hospital for intoxication.

"I would like to see them take the lead with that because it's primarily affecting the student body," he said.

To learn more about energy drinks and WSU's ADCAPS program, visit http://adcaps.wsu.edu/default.asp?PageID=570.

Sarah Mason can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 234, or by e-mail at smason@dnews.com.