HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 15

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Eleanor Chavez

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF COMBINING ENERGY BEVERAGES WITH ALCOHOL AND TO DEVELOP AN EDUCATION AND AWARENESS CAMPAIGN TARGETED AT SCHOOLS, HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS OF HOSPITALS REGARDING THE DANGERS OF SELF-MIXING ENERGY DRINKS WITH ALCOHOL.

     WHEREAS, caffeinated alcoholic beverages, often referred to as alcoholic energy drinks, are alcoholic beverages that contain caffeine as an additive and are packaged in combined form; and

     WHEREAS, alcoholic energy drinks have recently come under public scrutiny due to the widely reported story of nine college freshmen in Washington state who were hospitalized with near-lethal blood alcohol levels after drinking a caffeinated malt beverage known as Four Loko; and

     WHEREAS, the federal food and drug administration has issued letters to four companies that make alcoholic energy drinks, warning them that the addition of caffeine to these products "poses a public health concern"; and

     WHEREAS, the federal trade commission has issued similar letters of warning to the same four companies, further urging the companies to review the way in which these products are marketed and to "take swift and appropriate steps to protect consumers"; and

     WHEREAS, several studies reported by such respected entities as the noted journal Scientific American and the American Journal of Preventive Medicine have suggested that drinking caffeine and alcohol simultaneously can lead to hazardous and life-threatening behavior; and

     WHEREAS, the federal centers for disease control and prevention has found that drinkers who consume alcohol mixed with energy drinks are three times more likely to binge drink than other drinkers; and

     WHEREAS, Mary Claire O'Brien, M.D, a professor of emergency medicine at Wake Forest university, warned the federal food and drug administration last year that combining alcohol and caffeine is dangerous, resulting in a far more potent product than drinking either separately; and

     WHEREAS, Thomas J. Gould, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Temple university, told Scientific American that the combined use of caffeine and alcohol may give a false sense of security, leading individuals to believe that they are less intoxicated than they actually are; and

     WHEREAS, the popularity of alcoholic energy beverages presents a new and serious problem for college officials, health care professionals and others long accustomed to fighting alcohol abuse among young people and who now are racing to confront the new and less understood threat of combining high amounts of caffeine with alcohol; and

     WHEREAS, anecdotal evidence obtained through interviews with college-age youths around the country indicates that more truthful marketing and even banning alcoholic energy drinks will not halt the practice of combining caffeine and alcohol, despite reports of serious detriment to health and even death among users; and

     WHEREAS, in the days following the warnings issued by the federal food and drug administration and the federal trade commission, a new Facebook tribute page was created called "R.I.P. Four Loko", attracting eight thousand five hundred friends within days of its creation, which contained postings encouraging readers to stockpile Four Loko and other alcohol energy drinks; and

     WHEREAS, the proliferation of both commercial and self-mixed versions of alcoholic energy beverages constitutes a growing and serious public health problem;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of health be requested to study the effect of combining energy beverages with alcohol and to develop an education and awareness campaign targeted at schools, health care providers and emergency departments of hospitals regarding the dangers of self-mixing energy drinks with alcohol; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a report of the findings and recommendations of this study and the plan for the educational and awareness campaign be provided to the legislative health and human services committee by October 2011; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of health and to the governor.

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