A controversial new energy drink selling at clubs in New York and California is being criticized for its highly provocative name.

New York City lawmakers have called for a boycott of the highly caffeinated Cocaine, saying the Las-Vegas-based Redux Beverages should be "ashamed" of its marketing tactics.

The soft drink, which is not for sale in Canada, contains three times as much caffeine as a can of Red Bull, a comparable energy drink. The company's website promises the drink "tastes like a fireball, a carbonated atomic fireball!"

Councilman James Sanders Jr., of Queens, N.Y., who called a news conference yesterday, said the brand name was "woefully ignorant."

Joseph A. Califano Jr., the president of the U.S. National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, also called for a boycott of the beverage.

"The creation and pushing of a beverage, which, Redux claims, 'numbs the throat to add an oral sensation much like cocaine does,' is disgraceful. It is clearly aimed at children and teen partygoers," he said in a statement released on the centre's website.

”In this country alone, more than one million Americans use cocaine at least weekly, and putting a product on the market that glamorizes an illegal and addictive drug like cocaine is irresponsible and reprehensible. I call on all retailers, restaurants, bars and coffee shops to refuse to sell this disgusting product."

Health Canada warns that improper consumption of energy drinks can cause adverse reactions, including electrolyte disturbances, nausea and vomiting, and heart irregularities.