Taking aim at 'Cocaine'; Alderman wants product to join smoking, BB- guns on long list of restrictions

An energy drink billed as more than three times stronger than RedBull and marketed under the "shameful" brand name "Cocaine" would bebanned in Chicago, under a crackdown proposed Wednesday by the CityCouncil's most powerful alderman.

Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) has alreadychampioned a 2005 ban on the sale of marijuana-flavored candy.

Now he's setting his sights on "Cocaine," an energy drinkproduced by Las Vegas-based Redux Beverages that's made to"glamorize" the namesake drug and "simulate" its effect.

With 280 milligrams of caffeine and a secret "throat-numbing"ingredient, "Cocaine" energy drinks are "marketed to give a highcoupled with a tingly, euphoric feeling within five minutes ofdrinking it, followed by an initial boost and a buzz" that lasts aslong as six hours, according to the proposed ban.

Energy drinks have become the rage among American teenagers, with7.6 million or 31 percent of the teen population drinking them.Hundreds of new energy drinks reportedly hit the shelves this year.It has become a $3.4 billion-a-year business.

Burke's ordinance would prohibit licensed Chicago retailers from"selling and storing" energy drinks sold under the brand name"Cocaine." Violators could lose their licenses and face fines of$300 a day for each offense.

IMPORTING INVASIVE SPECIES

"It is both shocking and shameful that the producer of any energydrink would call itself 'Cocaine,' simulate the sensation ofingesting this harmful drug and then focus on marketing it to youngpeople," said Burke, who was joined by Aldermen Billy Ocasio (26th)and Ariel Reboyras (30th).

Energy drinks weren't Burke's only target.

He also demanded hearings to find out why Chicago's 1971 ban onhousehold detergents containing phosphates is not being enforced.Phosphates produce algae that can choke lakes and rivers.

Mayor Daley introduced an ordinance that would make it unlawfulto "import, sell, transport, carry, own, possess or release"regulated aquatic invasive species that threaten to do "irreparableharm" to the lake.

BAN WAGON:

Some of the things banned by Chicago in recent years

- "Pot suckers" -- marijuana-flavored candy

- Smoking in many indoor locations (bars have until 2008 tocomply)

- Using cell phones without hands-free device while driving

- BB-guns and replica guns that shoot pellets

- Homing pigeons in homes

- "For Sale" signs on cars parked in street

- Noise "above a conversational level" from 100 feet away

- Proposed: trans fat

fspielman@suntimes.com