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Sunday, March 11, 2007
‘Cocaine’ gave more than a caffeine high to one teen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For Stephen Martinelli, last week marks the first and last time he’ll ever try Cocaine.
He fell in the shower. His stomach churned. He vomited. A friend told him he looked yellow.
Martinelli, 16, thought he was going to die.
“When I vomited, it felt like my ribs were coming into my stomach,” the Dacula High sophomore told me. “It felt better for me to bend over than to stretch out.”
He’d consumed high-energy drinks before — Mountain Dew Amp, Red Bull. But not “Cocaine,” a concoction with a tongue in cheek marketing scheme that has riled anti-drug advocates.
The drink doesn’t actually contain cocaine, but each 8.4-ounce can packs plenty of caffeine — 280 milligrams. It’s advertised as being 350 times stronger than Red Bull.
On Monday, at a friend’s suggestion, Martinelli gave it a try.
He plucked down $3 or so for a can at a gas station. Martinelli said he drank about half of the drink. That night, he slept fine. Tuesday morning, while preparing or school, he became ill. His parents, Pete and Elaine, were out of town attending their daughter’s graduation from cosmetology school.
Pete Martinelli thought Stephen was trying to ditch a day of school when he called and said he was sick.
But this wasn’t a Ferris Bueller moment.
A chaperone who was staying with Stephen said the kid looked yellow, appeared weak and was sweating profusely. Martinelli told the chaperone to get the boy to the doctor.
On the way, Stephen worsened. They pulled over so he could upchuck. He faded in and out.
At Gwinnett Medical Center, Stephen was put on an IV drip. A urinalysis test detected a high concentration of caffeine in his system.
And that’s potentially dangerous, said Dr. Maiysha Clairborne, a holistic practitioner in Tucker.
“It’s a stimulant,” she told me. “A high amount can affect everything in the system.”
When it comes to energy drinks, Clairborne gives this advice:
“Don’t drink them,” she said. “Honestly, get off the high-energy caffeine drinks. If you want energy, go to the B vitamins, that kind of thing.”
A few studies have shown that incidents of sickness caused by energy drinks are on the rise. Dr. Gaylord Lopezof the Georgia Poison Center said several factors figure into how the body might react to high caffeine intake.
“It’s based on tolerance, body size, the medical condition of the person and other conditions,” he said.
Redux Beverages LLC, a Las Vegas-based company, sells Cocaine. Senior partner James Kirby admits that, if you’re sensitive to caffeine, and crazy enough to guzzle dozens of cans in one day, you might get ill.
“I won’t drink more than one a day,” he told me.
The Martinellis feel compelled to warn teens, so they contacted me to help spread the word.
“Who knows what could have happened,” Martinelli said.
Stephen is back to his old roller blading self. He recovered at home on Wednesday and Thursday by drinking plenty of fluids.
His days of downing high-energy drinks are over. Especially Cocaine in a can.
“I told my friend that if he ever catches me drinking one, he should take it away.”
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
The Badie Tour The bank, salon and health care services are just a few steps from your front door. Park Springs, a retirement community right on the Gwinnett/DeKalb county line, has homes, cottages, villages and an assistant living facility. It’s the type development Gwinnett will see more of as the senior population grows. On Wednesday, Rick Badie, your AJC Gwinnett News columnist, will tour the 54-acre campus. Read about his visit, online and in print, in Thursday’s AJC Gwinnett News.
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The Badie Tour: March 14
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The bank, salon and health-care services are just a few steps from your front door. Park Springs, a retirement community right on the Gwinnett/DeKalb county line, has homes, cottages, villas, and an assisted- living facility. It’s the type of development Gwinnett will see more of as the senior population grows. On Wednesday, Rick Badie, your AJC Gwinnett News columnist, will tour the 54-acre campus. Read about his visit, online and in print, in Thursday’s AJC Gwinnett News.
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