Get off CRACK

Can you say "parental discretion?" I knew you could. Why does the state need to enforce this or why should it? It seems like parents can't be parents anymore and if you outlaw the drinks, then they will only become more popular because there are those who find contraband "cool." I witnessed this at the middle school I student taught at where energy drinks were not allowed. Kids would sneak them and sell them to others at higher prices. Hey parents, did you know some kids may have adverse reactions to large amounts of caffeine and sugar - such as hyperactivity, or the opposite(lethargy) and becoming pale with blue lips (perhaps they are allergic). In this case, you may not want to send them to school with a 32 oz bottle of Monster for breakfast.

How would the state go about enforcing this? Putting police in convenience stores to watch for fake ID's like kids who try to buy cigarettes or alcohol? What do we put an age limit on next, chocolate?

We Americans love having everything bigger and better, so do bottlers. A bottler will make more money per can on a 32oz Monster than two 16-ozers. Some of the stuff in these energy drinks like Guarana, that effects the blood to your brain by the way, is unregulated and untested. If I were a kid and I needed a pick me up to get me through a boring English class, then another to get me through an afternoon mid-term, Hey, I'm there. The problem has because these 'natural ingredients' are unregulated, there is no liability for the bottler. I worked out and grabbed a Monster on the way back to the house, and then found I could get out of the car and stand up with my head still; but, my vision was moving. When I looked up, I felt like I was on a merry-go-round. I'm 5' 11" 245lbs. That 9 year old's parents had to be freakin out...the kid probably was also. Anyway, enforcement is done like cigarettes and powerball, show the I.D. No vending machine sales.

The real issue isn't "freedom versus public health," it's ANTI-SMOKER SCIENTIFIC FRAUD. More than 50 studies show that human papillomaviruses cause over ten times more lung cancers than they pretend are caused by secondhand smoke. Passive smokers are more likely to have been exposed to this virus, so the anti-smokers' studies, which are all based on nothing but lifestyle questionnaires, have been cynically DESIGNED to falsely blame passive smoking for all those extra lung cancers that are really caused by HPV.

http://www.smokershistory.com/hpvlungc.htm

The anti-smokers have committed the same type of fraud with every disease they blame on smoking and passive smoking, as well as ignoring other types of evidence that proves they are lying, such as the fact that the death rates from asthma have more than doubled since their movement began.

http://www.smokershistory.com/newviews.htm

And it's a lie that passive smoking causes heart disease. AMI deaths in Pueblo actually ROSE the year after the smoking ban.

http://www.smokershistory.com/etsheart.html

The government has no right to restrict peoples' liberty without a compelling justification. The anti-smokers have no such justification, so THEY COMMITTED SCIENTIFIC FRAUD TO DECEIVE THE PUBLIC.

What a JOKE the law makers of Maine are! Get to work on the budget and out of my refrigerator! FOOLS Augusta is full of FOOLS! While your at it just ban the cigarettes already! Think about it FIRST though how are you going to replace the tax $$'S lost? Oh, we'll just raise the tax on Gas, beer, soda, my flatulence!

FOOLS

RIP - - America!

If I see a problem with my kids drinking an energy drink I will ask them to not to drink them,and will explain why. Let them understand the reasoning and educate them. We don't need more laws like this. Smokeing on a beach!! come on that is bogus also. Lets fix the budget and never mind this petty bull- sh.........!

OK, let me get this straight...

(this is going to be my smartest comment ever here believe me)

we have a state in crisis, and uncontrollable czar of a governor, state funded healthcare plans that are creating a giant sucking sound of our taxpayer money, a boat launch that WILL NOT be built under any circumstances, and child molestors only getting 30 days and slap on the wrist...

and we're debating energy drink sales to minors?

Why isn't someone raising the real issues that are wrong in this state. It takes only one man to do that. And that is me. I announce my bid for District 27 Senator in 2010. I hereby swear that I will run as a libertarian/independant and I will save all of maine.

no more taxes - ever. cut the cigarette tax in half. free allen's wednesdays at all liquor stores. the destruction of dirigohealth/choice, the rehabilitation of food stamps - destruction of food stamp (EBT) cards and issuance of old food stamps, and increasing the toll into maine to $3.00 and lowering out of Maine $.50

Hellooooooooo...budget crisis...earth to Augusta...stop wasting our time and money...

The Nanny State plods on...

Welcome to the Communist Republic of Maine. We will control everyTing!

Not including the HIV Results in the Med Records? You've got to be kidding me. Seems that's STUPID! Sure hope there's lots of liability insurance coverage required for everyone of those folks who decided to have that removed.

Energy drinks stink, but either have them regulated by the FDC or banned entirely - or just leave it alone.

So now Maine is going to attempt to BAN a nonalcoholic beverage for minors? Better ban Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts too. This is a classic example of whats wrong woth Maine. I hate to see my home state spiral further into a socialist abyss. Peggy Pendelton should be a laughing stock embarassment to the people of her district. Thats been Maines knee jerk reaction to things for years, just BAN it if you don't like it. SEIG HEIL!

This is crazy. If parents don't want their kids buying this stuff it is up to them to police it, not the gov't. What's next? I walk down the street by a school with an energy drink and get busted for having a banned substance within 1,000 feet (or whatever the law is) from school property?

The people of Scarborough should be proud. Why do we keep electing these idiots. Don't the people have bigger worries? Jobs, utility prices, cost of health care, Cost of gas and heating oil, and the budget. Just to name a few.

Our State here loves to take peoples rights away. If a few don't like it ban it. Come on "Maurice_Fleckman" said it right. People lets start getting involved and stop letting the State of Maine taking more of our rights away.

Just another way of killing precious time in Augusta. Come on now, 'time' is 'money'.

Excellent commentaries everyone. Thank you. You couldn't have said it better. What a fabulous diversion to real issues. Nanny state anyone?

I'm tired of hearing about how much money these "bad habits" are costing the state.

I think if anyone wants more energy they should just eat more veggies and fruits and get more rest!

Amen to irv4me and kingof maine!! It's amazing how far people can go to pass the buck,so that nothing is their fault.Tell me where was the mother while her 9 year old son was out purchasing an energy drink?How did he come to purchase this beverage?He had to get the money somewhere.Let's see how this works.....The kid buys the energy drink and gets sick.The mom can't blame the store clerk because there was nothing to prohibit the sale.You can't blame the makers the beverage because no one made a law yet making them responsible for the ingredients in the drink.So we are going to take it to the legislation where someone somewhere will have to be held responsible for this drink falling in to the hands of children.It's nice to see that once again there will be a loop hole for getting away with bad parenting.

After a hard day of making this lot of noise it was not enough.They found a whole new place to ban smoking.I am quite certain someone is sitting around trying to find just a few more places to ban smoking.They banned smoking in just about every public place,adding on parks & beaches.They banned smoking in cars.I know i got it!!They will ban smoking after sex! That hasn't been banned yet and i am sure someone is sitting at their Pc this very moment thinking this is a good idea.

Kingofmaine you have my vote! LOL

The legislature spends its time on dribble like this because then they can avoid taking on the really tough issues (education, economy, budget, health care funding) until the waning moments of the session and then in the dark of the night on the last day of the session they will rush something through. Much like what happened with the DIrigo funding debacle - remember that Speaker Pingree?

But of course, they are doing this to protect us from ourselves. No thank you. The legislature needs to get to work on the important issues and if there is nothing going on - cancel the session for the day and SAVE US SOME MONEY. Don't go down there just to waste time and money.

You cannot legislatie common sense.

90 % of these comments about caffeine-laced drinks are the same old tired "you can't tell me what to do" ones. How about thinking out of your box,especially when it concerns your children's health,and notice where this data came from : Johns Hopkins University, not Augusta. Of course, the beverage industry's representative is going to say there is no problem with these dosages of caffeine going into your child-that is what he is paid to say.

Again, think for yourself.

stupid stupid stupid somebody please fire peggy.There is no hidding it, she is stupid.

No wonder anybody that can gets the hell out of Maine as soon as they can.Next: the no fart in Maine bill.

wait a minute, a 17 year old can drive a two ton vehicle down the road at 60 miles an hour on the highway, but they can't drink a can of monster?LOL. MY god, what has this state come to? If you can't keep your kids from drinking an energy drink, you need to seriously think about your parenting methods, instead of complaining to the state. TheKIngofMaine, senator? no, you should go for governor, you couldn't do a worse job than the one we have now.

****--reread 'seeult' : if there is an area on God's earth that is as regulated/permit necessary/permission [fees] needed as Maine -- then I have have not heard of it.

Layer after layer of laws; THE highest law enforcement to populous ratio in the U.S.A.; ---- and all the while adding more---.

Move West---even as the Californians try to take it away; it is still far more unrestricted than Maine/N.E..

Temps. in AZ. today----70's / 80's .

I tried energy drinks while working. I was working the third shift. I drank 2 to 3 a week. One night I had two. Later I felt like my head was going to blowup. I was sweating profusely and felt very woozy. I got a replacement and went to the emergency room at the local hospital. My BP was 280/200. My heart rate was in the high 90.s. My heart bounded so hard it seemed like I could actually hear it. I ended up in the hospital for a week and it cost my insurance $26000 dollars. I don.t use them any more. The bigger danger is mixing these drink with other such products. Or, kids buying an energy drink because they can no longer function without one. Think about it. One is ok. Just as one beer is. The problem is substance abuse.

i agree that caffine is not good for our children. to much of anything is not good for any of us.however dosent eating at mc donalds have the same exact health effects on our children as this article states caffine has ? i believe in the quote; (anything in moderation. ) please stop wasting money we dont have to fight such a delima that can easily be solved with a simple conversation between parents and children- care givers in general. its our job not yours bill. work on something that will keep food on our tables and child molesters in jail for life.

Oh, spare me!

Caffeinated drinks for minors. We're already going after folks who smoke in cars with minors. What's next? Banning coffee in homes where minors are present? Will the coffee have to have been brewed, or should we follow the laws governing scheduled drugs, so that the mere presence of a trace of ground coffee in a canister will be sufficient to prove a charge of child endangerment?

I have a vote like everyone else, but I am at a loss to figure how we might stop this madness in Augusta. Our representatives are out of control.

well I was going to move, but now I got accepted to UMO

and yeah I'm 22

Ever read the backs of SOME of these drinks or 5 hour shots??? Didn't think so by reading your dumb nonsense comments! Try READING the dangers...States right on the back you MUST BE 18 YEARS OF AGE TO PURCHASE....The corner stores and even the Dollar Stores do not ask for ID when selling SOME of these drinks/shots!

They are DANGEROUS...I guess none of you fools are parents and if you are you're idiots for not wanting to prevent your child from having a massive heart attack or even death...

I could give a rats abour Monster energy or all the ones such as that..I am concerned with the ones when you read the bottle it clearly states you must be 18. It's not the caffeine people should worry about, it's the other ingredients, especially in the 5 or 6 hour energy shots!

Before you run your flappers on here with idiotic stupidity, try knowing what you are talking about.

I'll give you an example, atleast to you fools who think it's NO BIG DEAL! My teenager and his friend walked to the store for chips, When they returned..They had Chips.. I had to work at 4 am and starting at about 9pm my respectfull, usually quiet even tempered teen and his friend who never makes a peep started getting louder and louder, banging around, horseplaying and yelling upstairs.

It ended with this...A life size hole in my son's bedroom wall, a 15 year old at the ER with a heart rate of 231 and a B/P of 198/100. He spent two nights in the hospital, I missed 3 days of work...I was then told with my son that he was lucky he was alive!

My son's friend told me they had purchased these little 6 hour energy shots at the store...I can't remember the name of them now but they were black and red with Dragons on the front...I READ THE BACK OF THE BOTTLES!!!! They CLEARLY stated you must be over 18 to purchase...The store clerk never asked for ID!

So to all of you fools who think it's the responsibility of the parents...Come again, it's the responsibility of the store clerk who sells the item without verifying the age.

I went to the store, I confronted the owner who was MORTIFIED for she DID NOT KNOW. In this case it was not the store clerk's fault or mine. It was TEENAGERS BEING TEENAGERS and POOR LABELING by the company.

Get your facts straight before you go blaming parents for you haven't the slightest!!

One more thing..Just yesterday I stopped for gas, 3 little boys and I mean LITTLE boys, must have been between 6 and 8 were all standing in front of the store and all 3 had 5 hour energy shots in their hands guzzling them down...Do your children take the bus home and walk past the corner store on his walk home??? Does your child walk home from school and right past a corner store?? Have you been experiencing a child with mood swings and hyperactivity and insomnia????? Better see what your child's been consuming! And to you fools who think its MOMMY AND DADDY'S fault.....Believe me you are naive for I bet your child HEARS what you say...Doesn't mean they LISTEN! Naive fools.

Enforcing an age limit on Hi-Octane drinks would fall to the store clerks selling the items. Store clerks are held responsible for all of the items with a state mandated age limit and its time that people are held responsible for thier own actions. The fines levied on store employees for selling to an underage customer is ridiculous, as very real looking fake ID's are so easy to make today, not to mention the undercover stings by police. How big a fine will a clerk have for selling little Johnny a Monster drink? Oh, no problem, Mommy or Daddy will just buy it for him and hand it to Johnny, the same as they do with cigarettes and lottery. Where is thier fine?

Minimum waged store clerks can't wait to start carding customers for Red Bull and Monster.

Well let's hope your kid isn't one of the unlucky ones! You'd probably buy him the 6 pack multi flavor variety pack! " Here you go son, go have a heart attack and rot your teeth out, we love you" Gimme a break.

i'd rather give my son/daughter a handle of Allen's Coffee Brandy than a 4 pack of that crap

I bet you would hahaha..Come sit with dadda and have a real drink...Allan's is the bit@# juice though..You like the ladies drinks I see....Interesting.

If I make an energy drink I can put "Must be 18 to purchase" on it all flippin day long but if there is no law to prohibit the purchase by a minor it does not mean jack squat Porn-Have to be 18, there is a law. Booze- Have to be 21, there is a law. Tobacco, must be 18, there is a law. Lottery tickets, have to be 18, there is a law. Energy drinks, no law.

what are we gonna have now, cops with BCC meters (for those who didn't get it, thats blood caffeine content). oooh, oooh, i know, how about roadblock checkpoints for redbull and no fear. It's about time that the people of this state got off their butts and did something themselves, instead of whining to the state about everything. If you don't want your kids to drink the stuff then tell them so, but don't ruin it for everyone.

Many people are deathly allergic to peanuts, but I don't see where we hava a bill banning those (Oh god, i said now there is gonna be one). How about chocolate, thats an afrodesiac, why don't we ban that for minors, wouldn't want them to have underage sex now would we.

I will control what my kid eats and drinks. Thanks for all the help Maine. Governor Bald Nazi will you actually do something and make the legislature work on the important issues. At the rate we are going now, in 10 years, we will have to call the town office and get a permit just to take a crap. In protest I am going to drive without my seatbelt, buy cigarette tobacco and make my own for $0.60 a pack, let my kid ride a bike without a helmet, and make sure the kid has plenty of high caffiene energy drinks. MAINE GET OUT OF MY WALLET AND MY LIFE I WILL LIVE IT AS I SEE FIT WITH NO ASSISTANCE FROM THE RETARDS IN THE STATEHOUSE!!!!!!

I can't believe Bold-darkie hasn't put a high tax on those drinks!

takedtodeath1 - I'll join you in your protest. Great commentary...especially about having to call the town office...bingo! Any legistators out there listening to this???? Pay attention!

oops..taxedtodeath1 I meant...

Am I readint this wrong???? I don't see a thing about taxes on this? I see an age requirement...Does that mean a majority of you are under 18? Because if you are not...I don't see how this would affect you in any way! Lunkheads... Taxes Taxes Taxes...some of you are obsessed with writing about taxes...If you don't like the State you live in for Tax reasons...MOVE!! So again...WHERE DOES IT TALK ABOUT ADDING A TAX TO ENERGY DRINKS???? I must be blind...

Taxes? Hmmmm...I believe gsdman wrote that he can't believe that baldacci hasn't taxed it...beyond that, all I see are people who are totally, utterly, and completely fed up with being told what's "good" for them and what's not in addition to usurping their parental responsibilities i.e. "nannyism".

Many native Mainers are obsessed with taxes by the way, mainly because they have tripled in a very short time while "LUNKHEADS" in Augusta choose to waste their time in almost mindnumbingly frequent intervals with such utterly idiotic legislation such as mandating toilet seat covers in public restrooms (which I for one am surprised didn't pass given history). This would be time better spent working to find ways to bring jobs that pay decently and have reasonable benefits. We are seemingly sidetracked from mass bankruptcy by banning or requiring things such as, novelty lighters, mandatory seat belts, bike helmets, and many other "common sense" things. Sorry if that torks quite a few of us who have diligently written to our legislators primarily throughout the the last 20 years to ask them to focus on the finances like they were sent to do - to no avail.

By the way, please tell me why someone who was born and raised here should have to move in large part because of "transplants" (not all, but many) from other areas who move up here for "the way life should be" and set about post haste changing laws "in my best interest" to the same idiotic ones that came from the place they were trying to get away from? That said, taxes have very little to do with many of these responses. It has to do with personal responsibility, and getting down to the "business" of making Maine work for everyone - not just the ones who choose to use it as a "playground" I.E. "Vacationland."

I am a parent. My 6 or 8 year old child wouldn't be standing in front of a store alone much less "guzzling energy drinks." Mine are older, but rest assured, when they walk by the corner store, they lack the adequate funds to buy energy drinks. Maybe other parents fail to pay attention to what their kids are doing, but I do. I'm not "naive" and furthermore, I'll be damned if I'm going to be made to pay for the idiocy of others. One last thing: Next time you're out watching the kiddos, make a mental note of how many Cokes or Mountain Dews they're sucking down. Between the sugar and the caffeine and the sheer size of the bottles, there's much to compare with regard to behaviour in comparison energy drinks.