What Happened To Four Loko in Montana?

Over the weekend, I was sorting through my camera roll (filled with far too many photos from over the years... and a stupid amount of screenshots), when I came across a photo from a time when the "blackout in a can" beverage WAS on sale here... and I thought "Huh... I haven't actually SEEN Four Loko in a store in years... what happened?"

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Here One Day, Gone The Next

In researching this I came across an old article from 2010, published by the Billings Gazette, on exactly WHY Four Loko disappeared from our shelves.

Turns out, back in 2009, Montana passed Senate Bill 438 for "helping to avert the cases of alcohol poisoning, blackouts, and even deaths" that were being blamed on the alcohol & caffeine-infused drinks, and that has been credited as to WHY Four Loko disappeared from Montana.

That legislation classified caffeinated or stimulant-enhanced malt drinks, IE Four Loko at the time, as LIQUOR. Meaning... taxes went over DOUBLE what they were previously.

At the time, the Gazette said the drinks cost around $1.49 and were sold pretty much everywhere beer was sold. But, after that Bill passed, only liquor stores could sell it.

Why Don't Montana Liquor Stores Sell It?

Well, for one, with the change in pricing at the time... one can of Four Loko jumped from $1.49 to $4.60. Shauna Helfert with the MT DOR Liquor Control Division told the Gazette in 2010:

It's not banned or restricted. We just don't have the market for the price.

Any MT Liquor Store COULD order it, but they simply... didn't.

So, if you are like me and wondered... huh. What happened to the "blackout in a can?" Now you know.

What are your thoughts?

What other beverages should be banned from convenience and grocery stores? Should MT Liquor Stores give Four Loko another shot? Let us know your thoughts on App Chat or on Facebook.