Should the Government Prohibit the Sales of Energy Drinks to Young Adults Under 18?

November 12th , 2014

Energy Drinks, Draft #2

Should the Government prohibit the  sales of energy drinks to young adults under 18?

Society has grown to become a fast paced labor force , demanding more and more from each of its citizens. Nowadays, many individuals are required to  function  on a fast pace. There is a constant challenge of beating time and maximizing the output of a day. Especially the younger generation is suffering from the high demands, they are trying to live up to. The determination to accomplish more in less time can be very exhausting and tiring, which causes many people, among  students and children, to use energizing supplements on a daily basis. Many consumers of such supplements use energy boosting beverages in order to stay focused and energized throughout long days. However, many energizing drinks contain various ingredients that can harm consumers fatally. The high dosage of caffeine is known to be addictive and can cause serious damages to the body.Especially young adults under 18 years can suffer severe damages from the consumption of  highly caffeinated beverages.  The government should prohibit the sales of energy drink supplements to teenagers under 18 years, since it is the the government's responsibility to take care of its citizens as the effects of energizing beverages are proven to be harmful to ones health. Furthermore, the metabolism of young adults under 18 often is not capable of handling the great amounts of concentrated caffeine a single can contains and lastly teenagers should not consume additional caffeine in form of energy drinks, as caffeine is an addictive substance.

       There is a huge need of  new regulations regarding the sales of energizing drinks to underaged young adults are necessary, as it is the government's responsibility to look after

citizens and to make sure that the provided and offered nourishments are following the strict regulations. It is important for the government to acknowledge the seriousness of this specific matter, which has caused many children to die after consuming energy drinks. Publishing a new law that restricts sales of such energy drinks to underaged teenagers would prevent our children from fatal incidences, such as sudden death through caffeine intoxication. As Melanie Haiken stated in her Forbes news article “Can Energy Drinks Kill? FDA Investigates, Consumers Worry, A Business Under Fire” there have been five incidences, that resulted in the death of the involved teenagers, that are presumably linked to the consumption of an energy drink called Monster.The patterns that are occurring in these five incidences demonstrate that the regulations of beverages are not strict enough, as for incidence, the article “Marketed to teens, energy drink sales poised to nearly double over the next five years, despite health warnings from pediatricians” by David Knowles (New York Daily News, February 13th, 2013) reveals that most energy drinks contain other ingredients such as the guarana plant, a South American plant, that contains a lot of caffeine. This means that adding this particular fruit to the highly caffeine enhanced booster, adds a significant amount of caffeine which is not openly displayed and exposed as additional caffeine on the ingredient list on the back of a can. There are many loopholes regarding the regulations  of beverages, which have allowed fatal incidences to happen and even caused families to lose their beloved children. Many young adults are not aware of the dangers of energizing drinks and often confuse such with sports drinks. Promoting transparency for ingredient listings will help raise awareness and set the difference between sports drinks, such as Gatorade and the energy drinks that are enhanced with a significant amount of caffeine. New laws that control and suppress secrecy of beverage compositions would help everyone to understand the differences between certain beverages and help safe our children. This would be one approach to prevent incidences involving children under 18 years.