Health Canada mulling classifying energy drinks as drugs

I don't think this would be a bad idea at all. There should be some type of regulation on these things. I can't count, and shudder to think, how many times I've seen young children (eight or ten year olds) chugging these gawd awful things down. I don't know that they necessarily need to be sold strictly by pharmacists, but if that's the only deterrent that's available right now, so be it.

Must be something wrong with me cuz those drinks never did a thing for me

Why is it the company's fault and not the parents'? The article posed a good question, why aren't coffee or tea held to the same restrictions? If you drink 20 coffees in a day you may die too and mixing coffee with alcohol would likely have the same result as mixing them with an energy drink.

Why is it the company's fault and not the parents'? The article posed a good question, why aren't coffee or tea held to the same restrictions? If you drink 20 coffees in a day you may die too and mixing coffee with alcohol would likely have the same result as mixing them with an energy drink.

I never said it was the anyone's fault, per se. Of course the parents have their share of responsibility in teaching their children not to drink these disgusting things and what the health risks are. Unfortunately, parent's can't be in their kid's back pockets 24/7. At this point, if your 11 year old and his buddy stop at 7-11 on their way to the ball diamond, there's nothing stopping them from buying a Red Bull. Although putting energy drinks "behind the counter" still wouldn't make it illegal for them to buy one, it would make it a little less convenient and might deter them from bothering. That's really the only advantage.

Agreed, coffee and tea can also be harmful in excess. Personally, my issue with the energy drinks is the amount of caffeine in them. It's much easier to OD on caffeine drinking energy drinks than drinking tea. And - kids don't generally drink coffee and tea. Energy drinks are the big "in" thing these days and draw kids like magnets. They're the ones I worry about.

Why is it the company's fault and not the parents'? The article posed a good question, why aren't coffee or tea held to the same restrictions? If you drink 20 coffees in a day you may die too and mixing coffee with alcohol would likely have the same result as mixing them with an energy drink.

Coffee and tea are not marketed toward youths and 20-somethings (i.e. the more cash than brains crowd). Still restricting sales to pharmacies is silly. What's next? Alcohol consumption only under a doctor's supervision?

Why is it the company's fault and not the parents'? The article posed a good question, why aren't coffee or tea held to the same restrictions? If you drink 20 coffees in a day you may die too and mixing coffee with alcohol would likely have the same result as mixing them with an energy drink.

Coffee and tea are not marketed toward youths and 20-somethings (i.e. the more cash than brains crowd). Still restricting sales to pharmacies is silly. What's next? Alcohol consumption only under a doctor's supervision?
Energy drinks target teens and young adults though, not young kids, and for teens and later they are already exposed to alcohol, pop, and various other bad foods. Honestly, energy drinks are not a major issue.

Why is it the company's fault and not the parents'? The article posed a good question, why aren't coffee or tea held to the same restrictions? If you drink 20 coffees in a day you may die too and mixing coffee with alcohol would likely have the same result as mixing them with an energy drink.

It's the companies fault because caffine is added to the energy drinks artificially, whereas coffee contains it naturally. Why does Mountain Dew in the US contain lots of caffine, but here it has none? Because that's our rule - if it contains stimulants not natural to the ingredients; it's not a 'food', it's a 'drug'.

And 8 year olds can't drink 2 cups of coffee let alone 20. I'm hardcore, but I puke at more than 2 pots in 2 hours.