A Red Bull High

Years ago I was on patrol and drove past a busy nightclub when I spotted a disturbance. Some guy was in the street screaming at a cab and banging on the windows. His face was totally red and he appeared out of control.

I jumped out and put him in cuffs real quick. He was acting really strange and hyped up on something. I couldn't smell any alcohol on his breath but he was acting so amped up that I figured he had to be under the influence of something. After talking with witnesses, he had just flown off the handle because the cab already had a passenger and couldn't take him as well.

I ended up taking him for being a public nuisance due to being drunk in public. I wasn't sure what he had but figured it was some kind of speed drug. While taking him to jail, he appeared to "crash" and became very lethargic and subdued. I booked him, wrote up the affidavit, and forgot about it.

Several months later I got a subpoena for this case. The guy pled not guilty and fought the charge. The trial was... interesting because he acted as his own attorney. I got on the stand and testified about what I saw and why I felt his actions showed him to be under the influence of something that caused him to be a danger to the public.

He demanded to know if I gave him a breath test and of course I said no. He wanted to know if I smelled alcohol on him and I said just a little. He asked if I gave him any field sobriety tests and again I said no. When he testified for himself he claimed that he had just flown in on an international flight and had been up for almost 24 hours with an empty stomach. A few minutes prior to the incident he had downed two large Red Bull energy drinks to keep him away. He claimed that he wasn't used to the energy drinks and they were the only reason he was so excited at the scene.

The judge thought for a few seconds and stated, "Well the law says that it is illegal to cause a public nuisance while under the influence of a foreign substance. Alcohol is legal but you can still be arrested for acting the fool after drinking too much. I don't see any reason for Red Bull to be an exception to this law. I find the defendant guilty."

So there you have it. There is now established case law that it is possible to be arrested for being drunk on Red Bull. Maybe that is why it is banned in several European countries? I known I've never looked at energy drinks in the same way since.