Study: Alcohol-energy drink combo riskier than booze alone

By Durell Hall, Courier-Journal

Research indicates that drinkers are more likely to drive if they mix alcohol with energy drinks.

EnlargeCloseBy Durell Hall, Courier-Journal

Research indicates that drinkers are more likely to drive if they mix alcohol with energy drinks.

Adding to growing research on the effects of trendy cocktails such as vodka and the energy drink Red Bull, scientists from Northern Kentucky University split 56 college students between the ages of 21 and 33 into four groups. The students received either an alcoholic beverage, an energy drink, a mixed drink with both ingredients, or a placebo.

All drinks were made to look and taste like alcoholic energy drinks, so participants did not know which they were consuming. Researchers measured how quickly the students could execute and suppress actions after the dose and asked them to rate feelings such as stimulation, sedation, impairment and levels of intoxication.

All of the students who drank alcohol showed impaired impulse control. But those who drank the alcoholic energy drink perceived themselves to be less impaired than those who drank the same dose of alcohol alone, the study authors said, which could make them more likely to take risks such as driving while intoxicated.

"This study demonstrates these drinks are different. .. and consumers should be aware," said study author Cecile Marczinski, an assistant professor in the department of psychological science. "It might be appropriate to put warning labels on energy drinks saying they should not be mixed with alcohol."

While combining alcohol with caffeinated beverages is nothing new

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Boehner Plans to Pass Spending Cuts With GOP Help Alone

Associated Press

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WASHINGTON –  Sometimes in politics and legislation, whether you win is less important than how you win.

That's the dilemma facing House Speaker John Boehner as he tries to round up the votes to pass a fast-approaching spending compromise and avert a partial government shutdown by week's end.

Boehner, R-Ohio, wants the overwhelming majority of those votes to come from his fellow Republicans, even if dozens of easily attainable Democratic votes could help carry the budget bill to victory.

The goal complicates Boehner's task, and possibly could push the bill farther to the right. It motivates him to battle for the votes of conservative Republicans who are demanding deeper spending cuts, and greater changes to social issues such as abortion access, than the Democratic-controlled Senate and President Barack Obama say they can accept.

If Boehner can argue convincingly that it's the only route to House passage, Democrats conceivably could yield on some points they might otherwise win. At the same time, however, Boehner is trying to persuade Republicans that some compromise is inevitable.

"We control one-half of one-third of the government," he said last week. "We can't impose our will on the Senate."

Eventually, both parties must decide where to draw the line in negotiations and whether to risk a government shutdown that could trigger unpredictable political fallout.

Some congressional veterans say Boehner is taking the only realistic approach for a speaker who wants to stay in power. If he cuts a deal that relies heavily on Democrats' votes, he could alienate scores of House Republicans, who might in turn start seeking a new leader.

Members of both parties say Boehner probably could assemble 218 votes easily, if he didn't care who cast them.

President Obama pressed the House and Senate leaders Saturday to agree to a budget in time to avert what he says would be an economically harmful government shutdown, but restated his opposition to certain spending cuts and other provisions insisted upon by Republicans.

Obama delivered the message in separate telephone conversations with Boehner, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., the White House said.

Negotiations continued Saturday on a bill to fund government operations through Sept. 30, the end of the budget year. They have zeroed in on cuts in the $33 billion range, but haven't agreed on where to make them.

Government funding expires at midnight Friday. Much of the government would shut down without a new budget in place.

Obama told the leaders that he opposes using the budget process to "further an ideological agenda" by pursuing issues that aren't related to reducing spending or the deficit, the White House said. Obama also said he objects to cuts that would undermine economic growth and job creation.

He said shutting the government would hurt the economy just as it's beginning to create jobs. On Friday, the government reported that the unemployment rate had fallen to a two-year low of 8.8 percent in March and that the economy added 216,000 jobs last month.

After keeping a low profile and delegating the negotiating to Vice President Joe Biden, his budget director and other White House aides, Obama has begun to press publicly for a deal as this latest deadline nears. He has signed several short-term spending bills to keep the government in business.

He said Friday that compromise was within reach.

But Boehner said Saturday in the weekly Republican address, recorded before he spoke with the president, that "there is no agreement.

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