I-Team

MIAMI (CBS4) ― Have you ever heard of alcohol-energy drinks? They're not advertised on TV but if you go online you'll find they're very popular with young people, so much so that 29 state attorneys general have expressed concern about the marketing and the safety risks for America's youth.

CBS4 I-Team investigator Laurie Stein's exclusive hidden camera investigation revealed why police are so worried about these powerful potions, including a fruit-flavored drink called "Sparks" sold by the Miller Brewing Company.

These beverages look like energy drinks and taste like orange soda but law enforcement is now concerned about the contents of these drinks, and the mixture of caffeine and alcohol.

The combination of ingredients means users stay awake and drink longer, police say, have a false sense of sobriety, and the caffeine and carbonation helps the alcohol get into the bloodstream faster.

Dr. Peter Kmieck, director of Kappa Labs, said "it's the combination of these stimulants that may produce an effect that otherwise they wouldn't have had."

The I-team checked out places that target kids like MySpace and You Tube and we found dozens of blogs devoted to "Sparkaholics" who are looking for friends who want to get hyper and drunk at the same time.

Young people have posted photos and videos of themselves posing with the drinks, drinking them with friends even chugging them online.

The official Miller Brewing Company Sparks website looks like a page from a high school notebook. Substance abuse expert Jim Hall thinks the companies are trying to hook kids as young as they can get them.

"The packaging is attractive," Hall said. "They look like orange juice rather than necessarily beer and they are promoted as high energy athletic enhancing drinks."

Sparks contains up to 7% alcohol, which is almost twice as much as some beers.

A Miller Brewing Company customer service representative told the I-Team Sparks contains about 15 milligrams of caffeine per can, far less than a cup of coffee.

But the I-Team had a sample of Sparks tested by Kappa Labs, and the report showed the contents of one can contained 214 milligrams of caffeine, about the amount of caffeine in 2 average cups of coffee.

To test the effects of the Sparks one two punch of caffeine and alcohol, I-Team reporter Stein enlisted the help of the Florida Highway Patrol. Under the supervision of an expert DUI investigator, Stein drank 3 cans of Sparks over the course of 2 hours, and had her reactions and reflexes tested over time.

After two hours, Stein failed the typical roadside sobriety test given by the FHP, and when she was given a Breathalyzer test, she was shocked to find her blood alcohol level was .117, far above the legal limit in Florida.

What really worries police is that since these drinks are packaged with the same colors and even the same typefaces as some energy drinks, kids might confuse them with their non-alcoholic cousins.

Police worry kids will be tempted to try the drinks, which they can't legally but. That prohibition may not be much of a barrier, as the I-Team found when it was invited to join an undercover investigation by state Alcoholic Beverage Control officers.

Investigators sent young-looking adults into a series of convenience stores in Miami-Dade and Broward County, and as undercover cameras rolled, they attempted to purchase drinks including Sparks.

At four out of the six stores the teenagers, age 18 and 19, were allowed to walk out of the stores without facing an ID check. The investigation resulted in the arrest of the clerks who sold the drink to minors.

"I'm happy that you're bringing this to the public's attention," sand Lt. Pat Santangelo, spokesperson for the Florida Highway Patrol.

"I really think this is something that we should try to prevent young people from getting a hold of this product."

Miller Brewing Company spokesperson Julian Green provided CBS4 with posters it says are distributed to retailers of Sparks, setting forth guidelines for how the drinks are to be marketed in their stores.
 
"Sparks was created solely for the use of legal drinking age consumers, and there is no non-alcoholic version of Sparks," said Miller's statement.

"The reference to alcohol is clearly and prominently displayed on the Sparks label. We provide our distributors and retailers with information to ensure that Sparks is only displayed in the alcohol beverage section of stores and only sold to legal drinking age consumers. We responsibly market our products to legal drinking age consumers consistent with industry marketing codes and applicable laws and regulations."

"The caffeine content for a 12 oz serving of Sparks is less than a 12 oz can of cola or two 8 oz. cups of coffee."

 

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