EVERETT — For Four Loko fans in Washington, this could be the last weekend to enjoy the sugary mix of alcohol and caffeine that some have dubbed “blackout in a can.”
Alcoholic energy drinks will be pulled from shelves beginning Nov. 18, state officials announced Wednesday. Similar emergency bans have been ordered in Michigan, Utah and Oklahoma.
Washington’s ban covers combinations of high-octane beer and malt liquor mixed with caffeine, guarana, taurine or similar substances. The ban is good for 120 days but could be made permanent.
The bans come about a month after nine drunken college students were hospitalized near Central Washington University. They were said to have drunk a mixture of Four Loko, vodka and rum. One young woman almost died.
In Snohomish County, police and health officials said they haven’t seen problems arise from alcoholic energy drinks. However, some said problems just might not have spread our way yet.
If patrol officers are seeing young people sloshed on Four Loko, they haven’t mentioned it to their bosses, said Robb Lamoureux, spokesman for Marysville police.
Police in Mill Creek and Snohomish also report no problems.
“I’m not hearing that this is an issue for us,” said Rebecca Hover, spokeswoman for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
In Snohomish, the type of alcohol being used by people arrested for drinking offenses varies wildly, said police Cmdr. Fred Havener. Mostly, it’s beer.
The Washington State Patrol doesn’t keep track of what people are drinking when they get pulled over, Trooper Keith Leary said.
“We don’t care what it is,” he said. “If it’s impairing, you’re going to get arrested for DUI.”
Officials at local hospitals Thursday said they haven’t heard any anecdotes of emergency-room trouble stemming from alcoholic energy drinks.
For the most part, emergency room nurses don’t keep track of what type of booze has brought people to the hospital, said Cheri Russum, spokeswoman for Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
“We don’t write in the chart what they were drinking unless it’s mentioned during the treatment,” she said.
Mike Zanto, 40, of Everett, said he strongly supports the ban.
He works loss prevention security in Everett retail shops and part-time security at Everett Community College.
He sees junior high and high school kids trying to steal alcoholic energy drinks all the time, he said.
“We caught a lot of kids taking those energy drinks … mostly high school kids,” he said. “A lot of the kids we caught were stealing them to drink and to sell.”
He catches the kids outright a couple of times a month, but he’s sure the thefts happen every day.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that some college students in Spokane told a local television station they were stocking up on the drinks before the ban takes effect.
That didn’t seem to be the case among Everett Community College students on Thursday.
Brianna Ibarra, 21, of Everett said a lot of her friends drink Four Loko, but she doesn’t. They like the quick drunk they get from the beverage, she said.
The drinks “get you really wasted,” she said. “I think they’re pretty bad.”
Stephanie Nusbaum, 24, of Everett, has tasted a few of the flavors, but they weren’t to her liking. She sees plenty of alcohol and energy drink combinations while bartending at the 7th Street Pub in north Everett.
“I thought they tasted gross,” she said. “It’s a bad idea to begin with.”
She quit drinking energy drinks after hearing about their possible health effects. She worries about people her age who consume large amounts of alcohol and energy drinks together.
Some customers think the caffeine will make them less drunk, but it just makes them more awake, she said. She also has friends who pour vodka into their alcoholic energy drinks.
“You’re not going to monitor how much energy drink you’re drinking if you’re going to stay up all night,” she said. “They’re volatile.”
She supports the ban but isn’t convinced it really addresses the problem of young people drinking too much.
Emy Johnson, 19, of Arlington, thinks the combinations are bad news. She looked disgusted as she spouted off ingredients such as guarana and taurine. She supports the ban.
“Honestly, it’s a good thing if it’s humans being healthy,” she said “It’s just a bad idea.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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