Four Loko caused death of 21-year-old Maryland woman, victim's friends tell local tel

The war against Four Loko is growing after the powerful alcoholic beverage is being blamed for a tragic death in Maryland and increased hospitalizations at another college.

In Maryland, friends and family of a 21-year-old who died last weekend after she crashed a Ford pickup truck into a telephone poll blamed the drink dubbed "blackout-in-a-can" for making her "lose her mind".

After drinking two cans of Four Loko, mourners told WJZ at a memorial service on Thursday night that Courtney Spurry "changed."

"She was not the same person," said Abby Sherwood, a friend of Spurry's. "She could not remember people's names. She was passed out within 30 minutes of having the alcoholic beverage."

Experts said the combination of alcohol and caffeine - the drink has the *****alent of five beers and a cup of Starbucks coffee - makes it difficult to monitor how intoxicated someone becomes.

Spurry's friends said they hope that the tragic death of their friend will be the last from Four Loko.

"We have the ability to get Four Loko off the shelves nationwide," a friend of the victim told WJZ.

Four Loko is already banned on college campuses across the country and is not allowed to be sold in Washington State, Utah and Michigan.

More states are expected to ban the drink in coming weeks - on Friday, Arkansas and Indiana became the latest states that said they're investigating a ban on caffeine-alcohol combos.

On Wednesday, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer called for a ban of the product in New York.

Meanwhile in Philadelphia, St. Joseph's University became the latest university to rail against the energy-alcohol drink after it confirmed a "handful" of students were sent to the hospital after drinking it.

Colleges across the country have been warning students all school year about the drink. Officials from St. Joseph's University confirmed to NBC Philadelphia Friday that the drink was being blamed for an uptick in hospitalized student's blood alcohol ******* this school year.

Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board asked distributors to stop selling the dangerous drink, but without binding laws, it is still reportedly easy to find the colorful cans.

The war against Four Loko began in earnest after nine college students were hospitalized after a party at Central Washington University last month.

Phusion Projects, the manufacturer of Four Loko has struck back against the negative press, arguing that their drink is no more dangerous than a drink like Red Bull and vodka.

"While we don't agree with the notion that mixing caffeine and alcohol is inherently unsafe, we do agree with the goal of keeping adults of legal age who choose to drink responsibly as safe and as informed as possible," the company wrote in an open letter to regulators on it's website.

But students who have tried the drink argue otherwise.

"It gets terrible, like real fast," one student told NBC Philadelphia.
nmandell@nydailynews.com