Teens Able To Buy Alcoholic Energy Drinks

How many adults actually realize that some of these newer carbonated energy drinks contain alcohol? It didn't take teenagers long to figure it out, and they are able to quite easily go into stores and purchase these drinks and not be carded.

Elmira, NY - There is such a close resemblance between these alcoholic and non-alcoholic energy drinks that it's making it too easy for teens to buy and too easy for store cashiers to mistake for non-alcoholic drinks. Brands like Sparks and Liquid Core energy drinks contain between 6.9 and 7 percent alcohol by volume. [A can of beer contains between and 4 and 6 percent ABV.] The problem is simple, these cans of energy drinks look a lot like "Sobe, Throttle or Red Bull energy drinks." They are so similar that they have even fooled police officers who are constantly watching for kids trying to buy alcohol! At Weis Markets in Elmira, WETM attempted to gauge the problem. We walked into the store, found the drinks and checked out in a total of 5 minutes. But a clerk never once asked for identification. WETM also said that they did try to find out what their store policy was on carding, but Weis Market didn't return their call. I wonder if this wasn't a deliberate attempt by the makers of this drink to get these drinks to teens without widely making it known that these drinks contained alcohol. [If you go to the Sparks and Liquid Core websites, they are geared for teens and college kids.] What do you think?