( CNN ) -- The Washington state Liquor Control Board on Wednesday banned the sale of alcoholic energy drinks after a group of college students got sick from consuming a drink nicknamed `` blackout in a can . '' The ban , which takes effect November 18 , follows the October hospitalization of nine underage Central Washington University students who said they got sick after drinking `` Four Loko , '' a caffeinated malt liquor . Some of the students also mixed the canned drinks with other alcohol , including vodka , police reported . Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna has called for federal food regulators to ban the beverages , which he said `` have such high levels of stimulants that people have no idea how inebriated they really are . '' But Four Loko 's manufacturer , Phusion Projects of Chicago , Illinois , said the drink is `` just as safe as any other alcoholic beverage '' when used responsibly . The company said it was `` extremely disappointed '' by the ban , which it said was `` based on misguided information and does not address the issue at hand . '' `` If the true concern was to preserve the public health , safety , and general welfare , this ban would also address caffeinated liquor products , which contain three to four times as much alcohol as our products , '' Phusion said in a written statement . `` Instead , under this ban , these products will remain legal and accessible to the same subset of the population that chose not to consume our products responsibly , sold in stores where existing alcohol laws can continue to be ignored , and abused alongside the same types of alcohols and other illicit substances that contributed to the incident at Central Washington University earlier this year . '' The company called the Central Washington University incident `` disturbing and unacceptable , '' but said the liquor board 's move does nothing to address the `` ongoing challenge '' of underage drinking among college students . And it said the board ignored its normal procedures , depriving affected businesses `` any opportunity to be heard . '' In an earlier statement , Phusion said Four Loko has about the same amount of alcohol as wine or some craft beers and roughly the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee from the Starbucks chain . The incident that led to the ban took place in Roslyn , Washington , in early October . Police concluded that none of the students was drugged or given alcohol without their knowledge , according to a school statement , but the findings convinced university President James Gaudino to ban `` alcohol energy drinks '' from his campus . `` We need to make sure that we 're sending a strong message to students about the dangers of alcohol energy drinks and we need to know more about the way it affects health and behavior , '' Gaudino said . The drinks are `` a binge-drinkers dream because the caffeine and other stimulants allow a drinker to ingest larger volumes of alcohol without passing out , '' the chairman of the school 's physical education department said . `` Being able to feel the effects of tiredness , loss of coordination and even passing out or vomiting are the body 's defenses against consuming doses of alcohol that will kill you , '' professor Ken Briggs said last month . `` Regardless , once the blood alcohol level reaches a certain level you can drop like a box of rocks . '' CNN 's Alan Duke and Michael Martinez contributed to this report .
NEW : Manufacturer says the ban is based on `` misguided information '' `` Alcohol energy drink '' led to 9 students being hospitalized , police said . The New York Times reports that a group of parents and community members are calling for an end to the ban.