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Illinois attorney general targets powdered energy drink Blow
By Michael Sorkin
michael.sorkin@lee.net
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SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is demanding that the makers of a white powdered energy drink called Blow immediately cease marketing and sales in her state.

"This is a blatant promotion of drug culture and addiction," Madigan said. She said she is concerned about the effect on children.

Blow's promoter doesn't deny that the product, packaging and advertising make it look like cocaine. He insists he's just "spoofing and mocking" the drug culture.

"I'm actually surprised" at Madigan's action, promoter Logan Gola said Friday. "I think there's way more issues that should be focused on than an energy drink mix."

Gola's lawyers are examining Madigan's threat in a letter to him this week. For now, he is halting sales of Blow to Illinois residents of all ages.

Gola said Blow's ingredients are "pretty standard" for energy drinks, except that it contains large amounts of caffeine: 240 milligrams per serving. He said that's three times the amount in Red Bull, an energy drink marketed to athletes.

But he said it isn't much more caffeine than Starbucks' customers get in that company's largest cup of coffee.

Caffeine is not illegal, and Gola said, "We are marketing this product lawfully."

A spokeswoman for Madigan said she had not received any complaints from the public but decided to act after her office purchased Blow over the Internet.

Madigan said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers Blow a new drug because it intends to "affect the structure or any function of the body. ..."

The FDA has not approved Blow, "and therefore we believe it is in violation of the law," Madigan spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler said.

She said the attorney general could sue Blow under the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which says a new drug may not be offered for sale unless first approved by the FDA.

She said the state also could act under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, which prohibits misrepresentation.

"In this case, we think Blow is marketed as a look-alike drug, which constitutes a deceptive practice," Ziegler said.

She said Blow is marketed to "entice" minors to try illegal drugs, which is an unfair practice under the state's fraud statute.

In the letter to Blow's manufacturer, Kingpin Concepts in Las Vegas, the attorney general's office noted that the product is packaged in "bricks."

The letter calls Blow a "misbranded and unapproved drug" under state law and calls its comparison to illicit drugs a deceptive practice.

"Finally, your enticement of minors to try drugs is an unfair practice" under the state's fraud laws.

Gola said he has been selling Blow since July. He now sells the drink in 1,400 bars, nightclubs, convenience stores and other outlets in every state as well as via the Internet, he said.

He wouldn't disclose figures but said sales are doubling monthly.

He also wouldn't disclose ownership of the company, except to say he is one of the owners.

Gola described himself as company founder, said he's in his mid-30s and was formerly a real estate investor in Las Vegas and elsewhere.

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Reader comments on this story - 6 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

The Cats wrote on May 4, 2008 11:18 PM:

" Lisa Madigan is a joke. To OGS...try reading a little before an attack on Elliot Spitzer. First of all what does he have to do with this story and secondly he, single-handedly, took on Wall Street while fighting off the attempts of the radical right to stop him. "W" and his merry men are responsible for the mortgage mess as Regan was for the S&L scandals (which McSame took advantage of...Keating 5). The republicans live to give tax breaks to the rich and deregulate every industry their supporters decide to pillage. "

The Original JD wrote on May 4, 2008 1:45 AM:

" It is not going to entice kids any more than Coke entices people to do cocaine. Not to mention that it can be reintroduced under a different name. This is just another ill thought out fell good attack being lead by the battle cry of 'protect the kids'. If parents were doing their jobs, kids would not be 'threatened' they things like this powdered energy drink. "

VoiceInWilderness wrote on May 3, 2008 9:26 PM:

" Sounds like candy cigarettes...rehearsal for something "adult" some day. say, age 12 or so. Madigan is sharp, one of the best and so what if she's thinking about the Governor's office? Isn't everybody? "

OGS wrote on May 3, 2008 9:24 PM:

" Let Madigan raise the issue of who it was that turned a blind eye to the developing sub-prime mortgage mess like Elliot Spitzer did. Then she might impress someone. Until then,,,just another political hack! "

chickenman wrote on May 3, 2008 5:04 PM:

" Dear Miss Madigan,

We understand that you think of us all as your children but we are not.

We understand your intent to run for Govenor, please do not

We have a goverment that treats as chilldren now, and we are tired of it! "

Woodford Pundit wrote on May 3, 2008 5:02 PM:

" Could Ms. Madigan possibly pander any more at all in setting up a race for Governor? "
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