Alcohol in the news; Whiskey selections at 7 Saints

from WCIA 3CBS/ Illinois Homepage.net

Whiskey Selections at 7 Saints

Andy brings in some of the whiskey's from Seven Saints. The first whisky is Death's Door White Whisky. Next is from Koval Lion's Pride from Chicago, the final is from Balcones in Texas.

Alcohol in the news; Ban of 'blackout in a can' essential for safety, health

also from the daily illini

ban of 'blackout in a can' essential for safety, health

If you’ve never heard of Four Loko, you are either someone who refrains from social media, or you live in Urbana. Either way, give yourself a pat on the back.

This piece was written by Tim Knudsen. I know he was just trying to be funny... but fuck you tim knudsen.

Four Loko is often bluntly referred to as a “blackout in a can” and has lived up to this expectation. One can of the drink, which is 23.5 ounces, includes the alcohol content of six cans of light beer and the caffeine of two cups of coffee, according to Washington Liquor Control Board spokesman Brian Smith. Even consumed separately, this is a lot of either substance. But combined, this is as dangerous as Springfield Avenue in the dark.

Alright, so how much alcohol is in a can of light beer? Bud light is 4.2% ABV per 12 ounce serving. Thats... .504 ounces of ethyl alcohol in each can of bud light. If you drank a six pack, you'd be consuming 3.024 ounces of straight ethyl alcohol (the equivalent of three shots of everclear). Unless my math is wrong (it's been wrong before), (23.5 / 3.024= abv) the ABV of four loko is 7.77%. Which really isn't that high. The fact that it's a 23.5 ounce can, is the issue. The fact that it tastes like koolade, is the issue.

When caffeine brings your body up, and alcohol brings your body down, the two don’t cancel each other’s effects out — they exacerbate them. The caffeine will hide the depressant effects of alcohol and make you feel more stimulated. This will prohibit your body from putting itself to sleep when it wants to protect you from drinking more. With this, danger has arrived. The drunk (yet awake) version of you isn’t going to tell you to stop drinking, and this how so many college-aged kids recently have been hospitalized.

How much did these people ingest in a short period of time? It wouldn't matter what they are drinking.The same results would happen if someone took 6 cherry bombs in a short period of time. And I don't see this author calling for a ban of cherry vodka and red bull.

It’s easy to explain the risks of Four Loko, so what could possibly be its benefits?

It’s cheap. Four Loko is only $2.69 a can at Hometown Pantry on Green Street. In the college binge-drinking culture, many students drink just to get drunk. Considering what it contains, Four Loko is definitely one of the most economical ways to get drunk. In these hard economic times, buying a Four Loko as opposed to buying a six-pack is the only sensible thing to do — smart college students recognize this.

Buying this is "the only sensible thing to do". Actually, buying a fifth of everclear and a package of koolade (the generic kind) is the only sensible thing to do, if all you want is to get drunk. Or you can drink aqua velva.

Four Loko is 23.5 ounces of college student in a can, plain and simple. Its “benefits” would make our parents raise an eyebrow.

The drink is trendy, and will most likely sink into oblivion with the likes of Ed Hardy and upside-down visors. If not, its risks will ultimately lead to its rightful demise.

Talk of banning a drink, only makes people want it more.

Oh, and Ed Hardy has his own beer line. Apparently, the author is unaware.

Alcohol in the news; Risky Alcoholic drink shouldn't be banned

From the Daily Illini

Risky Alcoholic drink shouldn't be banned

It comes in a brightly colored can. It’s 23.5 ounces, it looks like an energy drink and it tastes like an energy drink. It’s a Four Loko, and it’s bad news.

We're all gonna die!!!

A Four Loko is advertised as a caffeinated alcoholic beverage, and it’s all the rage among college students lately. The cans cost less than $3, they are easy to get a hold of and they can get people drunk very quickly.

They are/were available at most gas stations. Last time I was at Friar Tucks, they were sold out.

Last week, the state of Michigan outlawed Four Lokos. We think that is a step too far; the alcoholic energy drink should not be banned. However, some of us have consumed this drink before and have been unpleasantly surprised at the experience. The drink is dangerous and can lead to bad situations for people who are not aware of its strength and consequences.

"The drink is dangerous and can lead to bad situations". But they don't think it should be banned.

This sounds like something I want to experiment with.

Miller/Coors and Budweiser have stopped making their alcoholic, caffeinated beverages. Because of that, we do not understand why other companies can still do so. We wish these laws were consistent, but in the end, it is our responsibility — and not the government’s — to make these choices.

Miller/Coors and Budweiser chose to stop making it, they were not forced to. There was no law that made them stop making it.

These types of drinks are known to be a problem, and more should be done so that people, specifically college students, are made aware of how dangerous Four Loko — and drinks like it — can be.

Ban jagerbombs! Ban cherrybombs! Ban (any)bombs!

In a campus with an already potent drinking culture, beverages like this are dangerous. However, we are all adults, and if you want to try a Four Loko, try it and have fun. But be careful and be cautious. More than one can be very bad, no matter how high your tolerance is. And mixing it with other drinks is a recipe for disaster.

Oddly, this article says not to pan the drink. Even though it REALLY seems like its for the ban.

Alcohol in the news; Studens Question Police Priorities

From WCIA3 CBS/ Illinoishomepage.net

Students Question Police Priorities

Students are accusing the police of not protecting the U of I campus.

There have been two violent attacks on campus in just a day and a half. A woman was sexually assaulted this morning while showering in her dorm. She lives in Forbes Hall. Early Sunday morning a man was jumped and beaten up on 6th Street.

These crimes have students demanding more patrols on campus.

...

This weekend 25 people were arrested near campus for underage alcohol violations. Yet another beating happened an hour later on the same block police were patrolling.

Read that again. Read it again.

“The fact that someone gets beaten up on a corner while officers are working the bars, I mean we’re at other calls and at other places anyway. That’s going to happen, there’s going to be crime on campus,” said Champaign Police Chief RT Finney.



Chief Finney says stopping underage drinking doesn’t take away from trying to stop crime.

“In fact it puts more officers down in the area,” said Chief Finney.

So?

To serve and protect, and to generate revenue for the city.

smoking in the news; Report urges state spend more on smoking cessation

from the News-Gazette

Report urges state spend more on smoking cessation

CHAMPAIGN – State employees in Illinois have comprehensive insurance coverage for smoking cessation, but the state is spending just a fraction of what federal health authorities recommend on a quit-smoking resource available to everyone.

An American Lung Association report released Tuesday morning commended Illinois for being one of five states leading the way in providing comprehensive coverage for smoking cessation for state employees and their dependents.

But the organization also found Illinois and 14 other states invested less than $1 per smoker in the 2010 fiscal year on their tobacco quitlines that offer callers help trying to quit smoking.

A whole 32 cents per smoker (supposedly) was spent in Illinois to help people quit.

The CDC's recommended funding level is what it would take for each state quitline to be available to all smokers who want phone counseling, reach 8 percent of tobacco users in the state each year, deliver services to 6 percent of tobacco users in the state every year and offer two weeks of nicotine replacement therapy to all tobacco users and four weeks worth to callers who are uninsured or under-insured.

...

Surveys show more than 70 percent of tobacco users want to quit.

Nah, or they'd quit.

Not all treatments work for everyone, so a range of treatments – seven different medications and three types of counseling (phone, group and individual) must be available to smokers under a comprehensive smoking cessation program, according to the report.

Actually, one size does fit all. If you want to stop, just don't do it anymore.

Medications and counseling are for people who think they want to quit, but really don't.

The good news, according to the lung association, is there are proven treatments available to help smokers quit and there are many ways to get these treatments to smokers.

"The bad news," the report states, "is that these treatments just are not getting to enough smokers."

If you want to quit, figure out why you want to quit. If you want to smoke, than there is no reason that will be out there to make you quit. If the state really wants to do away with smoking, they can make it illegal. It's easy, just do it. Otherwise, it's just bullshit.

Alcohol in the news; 19-year-old ticketed for DUI after weekend crash in Urbana

from the News-Gazette

19-year-old ticketed for DUI after weekend crash in Urbana

URBANA – A 19-year-old Urbana man was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol after his vehicle flipped over and crashed in Urbana early Saturday morning.

According to an Urbana police report, Adrian D. Foster, 19, who listed an address in the 800 block of Scovill Street, Urbana, was driving a 2001 Chrysler near the intersection with Combes Street when the vehicle hit a curb, flipped over and crashed.

...

According to the police report, Foster admitted to his fiancee to drinking eight shots of vodka 30 minutes before driving.

wait, what?

8 shots of vodka in a half hour?

According to the police report, Foster had a blood-alcohol level of 0.183. In Illinois, a motorist is presumed to be intoxicated with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 or above.

yowza

Alcohol in the news; the first installment of a new beer column

from the buzz

the first installment of a new beer column

All beers are different; some are dark, some light, some red and some that, basically put, taste and even look like water. Trying to differentiate type is task enough, let alone trying to distinguish quality. The better beers, most people would suggest, are the craft beers that come from small breweries or even places called “brewpubs.”

As one might guess a brewpub is a pub that also brews beers. In this day and age most people don’t see these seemingly ancient establishments; most brewpubs expand into their own separate-from-pub breweries. Though in the olden days this is where beer was made. Pubs would put up a hop-pole or ale-wand to show the locals that the beer was ready for a-drinking. Of course, like most things, this all started in Europe somewhere around the 1300s and somehow we only caught on in the U.S. during the 1900s.

Nowadays big breweries will open up their doors for guided or unguided tours of their factory, and they will have bars at the end where one can buy discounted straight from the barrel beer, which is always a ton more tasty. But think about it, how many bars down here in the CU show signs of at least once being a brewpub? There are several, so do keep a look out when you’re getting sloshy.

Brewpubs are a fading facet of the beer drinking world. Think about the care that came from the brewmaster and that was put into the beer that would have to turn around and produce a sustainable living. Like most on path alcoholics I thoroughly enjoy a microbrewed beer far over Keystone or Budweiser but I choose the latter two more often due to budget, however, the higher price adds to the treat and the occasion. So if you ever stumble upon a small town brewpub, do not pass it up. I repeat do not! The atmosphere alone will get you hooked and loving every drop of the carefully made beer sliding down your throat and into your gullet. So cheers to good health, good beer, and good times or anyone of the three.

It's an article...