Energy drinks banned...

[Nick]

So, the area I live at seems to be looking to ban energy drinks to those under the age of 19 due to the amount of caffeine included in energy drinks in an attempt to constrict teenagers from consuming these beverages and mixing them with alcohol. Do you agree with this attempted regulation? Think there should be a minimum age for energy drinks? Think it's just the parent's responsibility to regulate and educate their children and teenagers rather than the government trying to get involved?

 

[Shanghai Alice]

Eh, there should be an age limit, but not 19.

I mean, come on, 10-year-olds have no business chugging those things.

 

[Livewire]

I had this conversation in Philosophy 205 today.

Being a person who regularly consumes them, and who is drinking an Amp Energy as I type this, I say leave them on the shelf. I could understand banning 4Loko and the other alcoholic energy drinks, since those, you know, actually can kill you. But they aren't that bad, unless you drink like 5 of them at once. (Which can be said of dozens of other caffeinated beverages)

Instead of blaming the energy drink, blame the person drinking it if it makes them ill/sick/whatever. People need to learn self control and better overall judgment.

 

[Alice]

^ Some people can't learn self control though. That's why there are so many Alcoholics, Smokers, and drug addicts.

That said, it's still ridiculous to ban a substance that doesn't have any harmful affect on anyone other than the person consuming it. IE: energy drinks.




I saw this earlier today, and thought it was some random joke... but I guess it must be related to this.

Spoiler:

 

[da_absol]

...i think you should allow energy drinks. It's the parent's job to regulate them, not the governments.

 

[Livewire]

^ Some people can't learn self control though. That's why there are so many Alcoholics, Smokers, and drug addicts.

That said, it's still ridiculous to ban a substance that doesn't have any harmful affect on anyone other than the person consuming it. IE: energy drinks.




I saw this earlier today, and thought it was some random joke... but I guess it must be related to this.

Spoiler:

That's true, but once the government steps in because of that inherent lack of Self Control, people start crying "nanny state" and that the regulation reeks of totalitarianism, so the regulators back off, which puts everything back at square one.

The solution we came up with in PHL 205 on the topic was instead of regulating, foster a culture that doesn't need/use said foodstuff. In our scenario it was fatty food, but I think it's a different animal entirely with caffeinated beverages. Our consumer society is designed for us using caffeinated beverages like Amp, Monster, 5 hr energy, etc. on a regular basis to function.

/awesome letter is awesome.

 

[Roxichu]

No, no no. For Christssake, the government is not our nanny.

This ban would be impossible to enforce anyway, just like our current drinking age law. In every single town in America on every weekend, teenagers are getting alcohol, getting drunk, and not getting caught.

Prohibition always fails, be it for alcohol, drugs, or energy drinks.

 

[Alice]

^ Well, that depends on your definition of fail. Of course, it's impossible to completely stop EVERYONE from drinking them, but if they stop say 90%, is that not a success?

 

[Roxichu]

^ Well, that depends on your definition of fail. Of course, it's impossible to completely stop EVERYONE from drinking them, but if they stop say 90%, is that not a success?

I strongly suspect that if energy drinks are banned for minors, it will be just as successful as the USA's under-21 alcohol ban.

The vast majority of underagers will still drink them, they'll just get sneaky about it.

 

[Alice]

I strongly suspect that if energy drinks are banned for minors, it will be just as successful as the USA's under-21 alcohol ban.

The vast majority of underagers will still drink them, they'll just get sneaky about it.

I think you're a bit misinformed. The majority of minors don't drink.

 

[Purple Materia]

Instead of blaming the energy drink, blame the person drinking it if it makes them ill/sick/whatever. People need to learn self control and better overall judgment.

This.

Also, a age limit wouldn't hurt. My vote is for 14, personally. Or at least add to the can "Drinking more than you should will possibly kill you. Drink responsibly."

Also, energy drinks are so freaking tasty I could never give them up. But I do drink them in moderation. I never have more than two in a whole day, and that's rare that I even have one.

 

[Livewire]

I think you're a bit misinformed. The majority of minors don't drink.

Well, they do. More often than not. If I had a nickel for every time a friend drank underage I'd be swimming in a golden pool right now. The rate is higher than you may think.

I think it should go through. I saw a co-worker take eight of them before his shift and nearly had a heart attack. Those things are dangerous, IMO. I've never had them, and I won't. It should be at a age, but 19 is just too high. Maybe 15 or 16? I've seen 12 year olds have them. Ewww...

Well not to sound mean or insensitive, but he should have known better than that to drink 8 of them. The info regarding the caffeine and stimulant content is right there on the can. But that goes back to what I said earlier. People need to use better judgment.

 

[Kenshin5]

I think you're a bit misinformed. The majority of minors don't drink.

Do either of you have statical evidence to back either claim up? Maybe one of you notice more under aged drinkers in the areas you live in. I know a good deal of people out my school and at my work are under aged drinkers. Even if they sneak the liquor from their parents every now and then I would still define that as under aged drinking.

As for the case of energy drinks I don't believe in a government regulation for them, if you can't handle or abuse the enegry drink your are liable for your own risks. I believe on 5 Hour energy it says something like you can only have x amount of this in x amount of time or you it may have adverse effects on you. So there are warning signs, if people are too ignorant to heed those are they just don't care then sounds like a personal problem. I don't think energy drinks at a whole should be punished just cause a select few want to over indulge in them. Myself I don't see what is so great about them I took a couple Red Bulls and some Monsters about 3-4 combined in less 5 minutes and it didn't do much for me, outside of making me go pee. Not to mention it tastes bad. Also I heard Amp is Surge just renamed? Which was banned previously for having too much caffeine.

 

[Alice]

Really, you don't need them (Well, you shouldn't need them at all, but you know.) until you're old enough to actually not have limitless energy, so there's no reason to have the limit as low as say 13-14 imo.

It's pretty much impossible to enforce a limit under the driving age anyway, because there's no way to prove your age without an ID.

 

[Kenshin5]

Really, you don't need them (Well, you shouldn't need them at all, but you know.) until you're old enough to actually not have limitless energy, so there's no reason to have the limit as low as say 13-14 imo.

It's pretty much impossible to enforce a limit under the driving age anyway, because there's no way to prove your age without an ID.

Is not everyone, issued a Birth Certificate with the exact date of their birth? If they don't have an ID then the person does not sell the product to them. That is how it goes if their age is in question when a person is buying cigarettes/tobacco and Alcohol.

 

[Alice]

Do either of you have statical evidence to back either claim up?

Yes. I looked it up before saying that. (I couldn't find a single source that showed this, but I found one saying that 10.8 million minors drank, and the CIA world factbook says that there are 60+ million 0-14. Based on that, you can see that it's not even close to the majority.)

And I do know a lot of minors that drink irl.

Is not everyone, issued a Birth Certificate with the exact date of their birth? If they don't have an ID then the person does not sell the product to them. That is how it goes if their age is in question when a person is buying cigarettes/tobacco and Alcohol.

You would seriously take your birth certificate to the store to buy an energy drink?

 

[Kenshin5]

If it is based on 0-14 I think the statics are a bit skewed as I don't think any children under 10 take up drinking(or at least I hope not). I was thinking of the range 14-20. I suppose even if you did have statics, not all cases are reported like with rapes, attempted suicides, auto accidents, and so on.

Too stay on topic, if they ban certain caffeinated beverages would this potentially start a domino effect to ban other related things that have the slightest bit of Caffeine in them like Soda?

You would seriously take your birth certificate to the store to buy an energy drink?

You said "It's pretty much impossible to enforce a limit under the driving age anyway" by saying Birth Certificate I was giving an example of identification outside of a License/Permit. And if I was truly longing for a said thing I would bring it. Although I am not that desperate.

 

[Alice]

If it is based on 0-14 I think the statics are a bit skewed as I don't think any children under 10 take up drinking(or at least I hope not). I was thinking of the range 14-20. I suppose even if you did have statics, not all cases are reported like with rapes, attempted suicides, auto accidents, and so on.

Yeah, but it's saying that there are only 10.8 million of all minors that drink, and there are more than 60 million people under 15. That means there are a lot more than even 60 million minors total. 10/60+ =/= majority.

 

[Livewire]

Yeah, but it's saying that there are only 10.8 million of all minors that drink, and there are more than 60 million people under 15. That means there are a lot more than even 60 million minors total. 10/60+ =/= majority.

Well stats for minors that young aren't really relevant. Pull up the stats of minors, ages 16-20, and you will see that number increase dramatically.

However, back to the topic~

The only thing I'd worry about with this is the dangerous precedent established by banning energy drinks or other food items like it. Plus, I could see other maladaptive substances, say Tobacco/Alcohol going too if the government went down that path.

 

[Alice]

Well stats for minors that young aren't really relevant. Pull up the stats of minors, ages 16-20, and you will see that number increase dramatically.

*Sigh* Why is no one getting what I'm saying?

The number of 0-14 was the TOTAL number of people in the country.

The 10.8 million were drinkers between the ages of 0-20.

The only thing I'd worry about with this is the dangerous precedent established by banning energy drinks or other food items like it. Plus, I could see other maladaptive substances, say Tobacco/Alcohol going too if the government went down that path.

The government already tried banning alcohol, and it proved to be impossible. I don't think you have to worry about that ever happening.