Popular college drink risky

Young people who mix energy drinks with alcohol are twice as likely to end up harmed than those who just drink alcohol, a study says. The report said it was because energy drinks masked feelings of drunkeness. Energy drinks typically contain high levels of caffeine as well as other stimulants such as ginseng. It has become popular among young people to mix them with alcohol, particularly vodka.

The web-based survey of 4,271 students, presented at an annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, found a quarter of those who had drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days had consumed energy drink cocktails. Compared with students who did not mix alcohol with energy drinks, they were twice as likely to be hurt or injured, twice as likely to require medical attention, and twice as likely to travel with a drunk driver. They were also more than twice as likely to take sexual advantage of someone else, and had almost double the risk of being taken advantage of sexually. In a typical drinking session, they drank up to 36% more than the other students, and they also reported twice as many episodes of weekly drunkenness.

Steve - aside from the potential of harming others, the physical damage that can be done to oneself by mixing these substances can have lasting consequences.