Its a sad day to be an American my friends. In the 'Land of The Free' and 'The Home of The Brave'...............a mutha fucka cant legally purchase and enjoy a frosty Four Loko in a number of states after this weekend. What kind of shit is this? I feel that this is a blatant violation of my civil liberties as a citizen of this country.
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the right to life, freedom from torture, freedom from slavery and forced labour, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to privacy, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, and the right to marry and have a family. I would think that somewhere in that definition, I should be able to spend my hard earned $3 on a 24oz alcoholic beverage.
I'm not going to stand up on a soap box and scream to the heavens that Four Loko isn't dangerous, because it is, but if you think about it, so is crossing the street, taking a shower and doing house hold chores (if done in a stupid manner). In this thing that we are all apart of called Life, there IS a thing called common sense that we humans are given the ability to freely use when coming to judgment that will lead to our own actions. Common sense would tell one that drinking a bunch of Four Loko isn't a bright idea.
So....enough people have a bunch of un bright ideas, and now a specific type of alcohol is to blame??? That's complete dog shit. When are we going to take responsibility for what we do? Who's going to stand up and say 'Yeah man, me going to ER last night to get my stomach pumped was my fault. I thought by drinking anywhere between 3 and 5 Lokos, I would look cool and potentially be able to have sex with a girl'.
“The drinks are spreading like a plague across the country, and you need to do everything you can to protect children, so we must protect children from the severe and deadly consequences of drinks like Four Loko,” -New York Senator Chuck 'I have a small penis' Schumer.
I may be my parents child, but I'm 27 years old, drinking alcohol is a benefit that everyone over the age of 21 can enjoy, so yes, protect 'children' but grown adults shouldn't be subject to this bullshit ban.
He said this while standing with the grandmother of a 18-year-old Long Island girl who died after drinking Four Loko (after consuming a diet pill), the Democratic senator said federal and state regulators have already wasted too much time studying the issue and must move to ban sales of the beverages. Any youth loosing their life is an unfortunate situation but is Four Loko to blame, or a lack of common sense? Last time I checked, Four Loko wasn't on the list of leading causes of death Chuck.
According to Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the top 10 causes of death are as follows:
- Heart disease: 616,067
- Cancer: 562,875
- Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 135,952
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 127,924
- Accidents (unintentional injuries): 123,706
- Alzheimer's disease: 74,632
- Diabetes: 71,382
- Influenza and Pneumonia: 52,717
- Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 46,448
- Septicemia: 34,828
Shit, not only is Loko not up there, neither is any type of alcohol, nor is cirrhosis which is the result of pro longed drinking (chronic liver disease). Now if you want to split hairs, you can try and place drinking too much Loko in one or more of these categories but that would be asinine. What I do see on that list are things that in actuality are the result of things we could some what control.
Heart disease, #1 on the list. But we can go get a sandwich where the 'bread' is 2 fried chicken breasts and in between that is all kinds of cheese, sauce and bacon.
Cancer, #2 on the list. There are all kinds of cancer, but as far as lung cancer, we can go get a pack of smokes that clearly says on the packaging that the Surgeon General warns that you probablyshouldn't smoke them shits.
How contradictory are we as a people to promote/ advertise / glorify/ associate with fun; things that have been proven to kill people in this country, and then on those same air waves/ print/ tv programs; use that same type of marketing to bash Four Loko? I guess those things that can potentially kill us, are cool to consume as long as we do it responsibly, in moderation, and use common sense.
Currently, I'm emotionally running through a gauntlet of feelings, but the one feeling that overrides my anger is just sheer confusion. I was in college from 01-06, before Loko, and every Friday night, the ambulance was out in the quad by 7pm taking someone to the hospital, who did we blame then? When Jesus turned water to wine, I bet someone got fucked up at that party. Cant blame Four Loko for that. So whats going to happen now? I know...........people are going to continue to get trashed, and probably at a more alarming rate.
College kids are creative. I can guarantee sometime this week there will be a 'RIP Loko' party where people get blasted. Or someone is going to try and make their own home made Loko being that the ingredients are all over the net because they have been criticized the most, even more than the 'drink' itself (that should end well). Or people are just going to drink stronger Red Bull and Vodkas (doubt they would ban thatcombination).
In closing, I want to reiterate that drinking Four Loko isn't the best thing for you, but how do you justify banning a specific type of alcohol but advertising that 'The Most Interesting Man on Earth' drinks this beer, and P Diddy is 'smooth' because he drinks that type of vodka? Hopefully Four Loko gets back on the shelves. I would say I drink anywhere from 5-11 a week along with other things, and I have never blacked out, went to the hospital, nor needed any type of assistance. So friends, lets figure out a way to fight the man and his oppression against our right to drink Four Loko.
Sincerely,
Christian Pereia
Professional Drinker
