Overview of BORG
According to the National Capital Poison Center in Washington, DC, the BORG drink has become so popular with Generation Z. According to reports, its full form stands out as “blackout rage gallon” and refers to a mixture typically made in a gallon-sized plastic jug containing vodka or another distilled alcohol, water, a flavor enhancer, and an electrolyte powder or drink.
Expert Opinions
According to Dr. Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine at Stanford University in California, BORG concoction contains so much alcohol that “drinking one can lead to potentially life-threatening consumption and alcohol poisoning,” as CNN Health reported.
Sabrina Grimaldi, creator and editor-in-chief of the online lifestyle magazine The Millennial Zine, compares BORG to an updated version of Jungle Juice. She notes that, unlike previous large-batch mixed drinks, BORGs are individual servings, with each person having their own personalized jug. Grimaldi highlights the drink’s intent to get consumers extremely drunk.
Grimaldi said, “Instead of making a party-sized mixed drink in a huge 5-gallon drink dispenser, a giant storage tub, or even the grossest trend, which was making jungle juice in a sink or bathtub, everyone has their own personal drink,” and, added as the drink’s name suggests, “it’s intended to get you extremely drunk.”
However, Lembke is referring to BORG’s “social contagion factor,” portraying it as even more dangerous.
She said, “Kids see other kids doing it and want to try it themselves,” and, “That’s another real danger here — to take a dangerous deviant behavior and normalize it by spreading it on social media.”
Popularity Among Youth
The BORG drink is popular not only among college students but also high school seniors.
According to an 18-year-old Virginia student from a high school in Tampa, Florida, “Everyone made their own BORG,” and even mentioned, “You have to name your BORG and get creative by writing the name on it with a Sharpie,” CNN Health reported.
Lembke said, “A lot of people just pour vodka in and don’t measure it, so it can actually be kind of dangerous as opposed to knowing you drank three cans of beer,” and, “Nobody is really rationing how much they’re going to drink.”