Study: Energy drinks, alcohol mix same as cocaine

A Purdue University study says that mixing energy drinks with alcohol alters brain activity in adolescents, and this change lasts into adulthood.

According to Dr. Richard van Rijn and his team at Purdue, the brain chemistry of adolescent mice that were given drinks with high levels of caffeine and alcohol was similar to those that were given cocaine.

These tests cannot be done on adolescent boys and girls, but researchers say that past studies have shown the changes seen in mice exposed to drugs are similar to those seen in humans.

One student who worked on the project said the adolescent mice exposed to the energy drinks mixed with alcohol were less sensitive to the pleasurable effects of cocaine as they grew older, and would need to use more cocaine to get the same high.