Moments before Nikkolas Lookabill was shot by Vancouver police officers, witnesses described him as erratic and incoherent. He was barking at neighborhood dogs, rolling around on the ground and refusing to drop his handgun.
As investigators would later piece together the fatal incident, they discovered Lookabill, a 22-year-old U.S. Marine, had consumed several cans — perhaps as many as four — of the caffeinated malt liquor Four Loko.
It wouldn’t be the only high-profile incident linked to the popular alcoholic energy drink.
Five days later, on Sept. 12, four Vancouver teenagers on a double date were injured in a car crash in which they had been consuming the drink infamously dubbed “liquid cocaine” and “blackout in a can.”
“It was the first time many of us were like, ‘What is this?,’” said Vancouver police Sgt. Pat Johns. “From now on, that’s probably one of things we’re going to keep an eye on.”
The drink that health officials estimate is equivalent to four to six beers and at least two cups of coffee has been receiving considerably negative national media attention recently. On Oct. 8, a dozen Central Washington University students were hospitalized for sickness related to Four Loko, and at least one grocery store chain has since stopped selling the drink.
In Clark County, emergency room physicians, substance abuse counselors and police who say they are seeing more of the drink are concerned by the uptick. Nine months ago, Angela Ball, a counselor at Daybreak Youth Services, a residential addiction treatment program, said she had never heard of the drink. Today, she hears about it on a daily basis.
“Almost every client who comes in knows what it is, where to get it and has drank it before,” Ball said.
The issue for Ball? Most, if not all, her clients are underage — a sign that the drink is overly targeted toward youth.
“You have a young drinker who’s not experienced and drinking that” can cause considerable health risks, she said. “They’re drinking it fast. They’re drinking it like soda.”
A dangerous mix
The reason caffeinated malt liquor is dangerous is because it mixes an extremely high amount of depressants with an extreme amount of stimulants, explains Dr. Sean Stone, an emergency department physician at Southwest Washington Medical Center. First, the obvious side effects: People who mix alcohol and caffeine don’t recognize how drunk they really are, so they drink more, he said, making them “wide-awake drunks.”
Case in point, Stone said, was a survey conducted by the University of Florida of about 800 college-age bar patrons, which showed those who consumed alcohol and caffeine were more intoxicated than those who had only alcohol. Plus, they were four times more likely to say they wanted to drive home.
“There certainly could be a synergy between alcohol and caffeine in disinhibition,” he said, adding about the survey: “That’s a pretty staggering number.”
And then there are other health side effects such as rapid heart rate that comes with mixing alcohol and caffeine, and the fact that people absorb alcohol quicker from carbonated beverages.
These concerns prompted state Rep. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver, to co-sponsor a bill last legislative session banning the sale of caffeinated malt liquor in the state’s grocery and convenience stores. During the preliminary stages of the legislation, however, the bill was modified to instead mandate better labeling for the drinks showing the level of alcohol and caffeine. House Bill 2804 passed in the House of Representatives but not the Senate.
Other states are considering similar action. Already, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission announced this week it will ban the sale of all alcoholic energy drinks, effective in a month.
“I think it’s really hard to get something through on a 60-day legislation,” Moeller recalled this week of Washington’s bill. “I think there needs to be increased education among legislators. There needs to be more awareness of underage drinking and binge drinking.”
Moeller said he expects the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Tami Green, D-Lakewood, to be re-introduced in the upcoming legislative session, especially in light of all the media attention.
“Quite honestly, I see this as a bipartisan bill,” he said.
Last month, Phusion Projects, the Chicago-based company that produces Four Loko, issued a defensive statement, saying “there are literally hundreds of pre-mixed, spirit-based caffeinated alcoholic beverages being sold and consumed in the United States today. Our products are not energy drinks, as they’ve been called — and when consumed responsibly, they are just as safe as any other alcoholic beverages.”
Criminal incidents
While they acknowledged seeing criminal incidents linked to Four Loko, Vancouver police officers and Clark County sheriff’s deputies stopped short of saying there’s been a surge of criminal activity — such as DUIs, alcohol-related crashes and assaults — tied to the drink.
Clark County sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Schanaker did a query of the term “Four Loko” in all the agency’s police reports between last year and now and found a little more than a couple of dozen calls. They ranged from minor-in-possession cases to theft.
“It’s certainly something we see in the variety of calls,” Schanaker said. “But whether it’s something that the percentages outweigh (other drinks), I just don’t know.”
Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp found two calls in the past year relating to the beverage, including one case of sexual assault in which the perpetrator was under the influence of Four Loko. She suspects there are more incidents out there where the drink was present but not recorded in police reports.
“This is starting to show up a little bit more with underage drinkers,” Kapp said. “We’re making note of and encouraging staff to write when they see what the beverage consumed is.”
As for the case of the four teens involved in the crash, Sgt. Johns said further investigation revealed the teens had obtained cans of Four Loko at a gas station prior to the crash.
They had stood outside the Chevron gas station on Southeast 164th Avenue and asked a man in his 20s to buy them the drinks. While the buyer was carded by a store clerk, his identification checked out, Johns said.
Johns said the teens then went to one of their homes to drink and then drove to a Taco Bell. The single-vehicle rollover crash happened at 3:40 a.m. in the 17400 block of Southeast 25th Street.
Three of the teens were released from the hospital, while the most seriously injured, Jon Allaire, 17, has been moved from Southwest Washington Medical Center to Portland’s Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where he’s undergoing physical therapy.
The incident has led the sergeant to re-evaluate other crashes he investigated that had similar circumstances, wondering if Four Loko was involved. He said the first step is awareness, both by police and the larger community.
“We want to raise awareness among parents and legislators that clearly this alcohol has an impact on our community.” Johns said, adding about the crash: “Obviously, we’d like this to be the last one.”
Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.
