Alcohol Energy Drinks Deadline

A few hours from now, energy drinks that contain alcohol will no longer be legal to sell in Michigan.

The drinks must be taken off store shelves by midnight tonight.

The Michigan Liquor Control Commission ordered the removal a month ago.

The energy drinks can be up to 12% alcohol, as potent as several 12–ounce beers.

Marquette County Health Department health educator Sarah Derwin says the alcohol energy drinks are a local problem.

She’s hearing from NMU Public Safety that the drinks have turned up frequently on campus in the last few months.

There are 34 different drinks on the banned list.

Most come under the brand names ‘Four Loko’ and ‘Joose’.

Quite a few Marquette-area stores were still selling them this morning.

At a store we visited, the drinks were on the same shelves as other malt liquor drinks like Mike’s Hard Lemonade.

The Liquor Control Commission claims the energy drinks can have misleading packaging.

And they say the drinks appeal directly to high school and college students who are too young to drink legally.