Dozens of UMass students in hospital over dangerous ‘borg’ TikTok booze trend
Dozens of students at the University of Massachusetts were hospitalized over the weekend after participating in a dangerous binge-drinking trend involving “blackout rage gallons” dubbed “borgs.”
Twenty-eight ambulances had to be called — so many that neighboring towns had to send their emergency vehicles too — as the students participated in what’s known as an annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration called “Blarney Blowout” at the Amherst school.
Hordes of students gathered in the snow during the festivities with borgs — plastic gallon jugs filled with a mixture of alcohol, electrolytes, flavoring and water.
The destructive trend has become popular on TikTok among college-age users, who claim the borg mixture keeps you hydrated as you binge-drink.
While the addition of water and electrolytes to the drink helps slow down alcohol consumption and reduces hangovers, the sheer size of the container encourages dangerous binge drinking.
Some borg recipes call for a fifth of alcohol, which equals about 16 drinks, said Nicole Barr, an official with the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Abrons Student Health Center, to CBS News.
Several videos shared on TikTok showing the students drinking borgs have gone viral, including one where a student asks their peers what they nicknamed their borg.
The video, which has amassed 2 million views, features borgs with nicknames including “Soulja Borg,” “Justin Borgber” and “Certified Lover Borg.”
None of the cases of alcohol poisoning were life-threatening, the Amherst Fire Department said.
Two people were arrested for underage drinking, UMass police reported.
In a statement, the university said it will assess this weekend’s events and take necessary steps to improve alcohol education.
Incoming students are already required to take an alcohol education course that teaches the dangers of binge drinking, according to the UMass Amherst website.
With Post wires
