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Doug Gansler ::: Attorney General
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Hunter,

The Holiday Season is a time to reflect on our blessings, express our gratitude, and spend time with our family and friends. Because the Holiday Season also is a time to celebrate, I urge you to take time to talk to the young people in your life about celebrating the season alcohol-free.

During my 20 years in law enforcement, I have seen firsthand the devastation caused by underage drinking. As Assistant United States Attorney and as State's Attorney, I all too often watched families grieve for children lost due to drunk driving.

That is one reason why our Office has made reducing underage and binge drinking a top priority, and it is why I am reaching out to you today.

In 2007, our Office began the successful charge to remove Alcoholic Energy Drinks (AEDs) - commonly known as "black-outs-in-a-can" -- from the market. AEDs are alcoholic beverages to which caffeine and other stimulants have been added. AEDs were deliberately marketed towards our youth, packaged to resemble energy drinks, and highly sweetened with fruity flavors, like grape, lemonade, and watermelon, masking their high alcohol content.

In one case, these products were packaged in small, brightly colored containers easily concealed in a purse or pocket, making them a favorite at proms.

Young people wrongly believe that the caffeine in these beverages offsets the alcoholic effects. In reality, the caffeine masks the effects of the alcohol, placing the drinker at greater risk of injury.

Our successful effort to remove these beverages from the market began with an investigation of MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch, both leading manufacturers of AEDs. Our investigation concluded in 2008 with these companies stepping up and agreeing to cease production of their AEDs altogether.

We then turned our attention to smaller AED manufacturers, making products like Joose and Four Loko packaged in containers as large as 23.5 ounces and containing alcohol equivalent to 5-6 beers and caffeine equivalent to 3 cups of coffee. We requested that the FDA examine whether these AEDs were safe under federal regulations, and as a result of our request, in 2010, the FDA issued warning letters to four AED manufacturers. Eventually these companies also agreed to remove their AEDs from the market.

Because of our efforts, you will no longer find AEDs in Maryland stores.

Now that the caffeine in these products is gone, we've turned our attention to addressing the serious problem that lingers - supersized, high alcohol, fruit flavored products sold as single servings. These products have earned the name "binge-in-a-can" because one can constitutes a dangerous five servings of alcohol.

Because of concerns our Office raised about their 24 ounce Tilt "binge-in-a-can" brand, Anheuser-Busch lowered that drink's alcohol content from 12% to 8%. This past November, I urged the FTC to limit the number of alcohol servings sold in cans of beverages like Four Loko. The companies who manufacture these drinks promote a dangerous fiction that anyone can safely drink a super-sized can of these disarmingly sweet, fruit-flavored, high-alcohol products on a single occasion.

It is not enough to label these drinks as containing multiple servings. You cannot reseal a can. Even if you could, once opened, the entire contents of a can that fits in the palm of a hand will be consumed.

These types of products multiply the unacceptable price that we already pay for excessive alcohol consumption by the young and old alike. As we continue to get dangerous products like these off the market and out of the hands of our youth, please take time during this Holiday Season to talk with the young people in your life about the dangers of underage and excessive drinking. Together we can protect the health and safety of our loved ones and our communities.

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy and wonderful Holiday Season,

Douglas F. Gansler

P.S. - For those of you looking for guidance on how to talk to the young people in your life about the dangers of underage and excessive drinking, you might want to check out the following sites:

www.21reasons.org

www.parentsempowered.org


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Friends of Doug Gansler, P.O. Box 31102 Bethesda, MD 20824
By authority of "Friends of Doug Gansler." Hon. Joseph D. Tydings, Chair; Anne Clark Christman, Treasurer

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