Will Lancaster impose ban on energy drinks?

The sale of energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster Energy with high amounts of caffeine, sugar and herbal supplements like taurine could soon be off-limits to adolescents under 18 years old in Lancaster.
The city council on Oct. 22 unanimously introduced an ordinance to prohibit the sale, distribution, giving away or offering of energy drinks to persons younger than 18 years old.
“The ordinance before you today is modeled after statewide statutes proposed for enactment in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Illinois,” City Attorney Allison Burns said during a recent presentation before the city council.
The goal of the ordinance is to protect the public health, safety and welfare of youth under the age of 18, according to a staff report by Burns and City Manager Trolis Niebla.
The City Council removed a provision that would have made it unlawful to distribute, deliver, give away, sell or offer for sale an energy drink within 1,000 feet of any elementary, junior high or high school on days that school is in session. The ordinance is set up as a misdemeanor.
“Aiding and abetting is also a misdemeanor If they’re declared a public nuisance, and we can pursue injunctions, et cetera, against violating locations,” Burns said.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, adolescents should not consume energy drinks. For adolescents 12 to 18, the current recommendation is less than 100 mg of caffeine per day, according to the Academy. Energy drinks can contain 100 to 200 mg of caffeine per serving.
Juan Camacho of the American Beverage Association, which represents the non-alcoholic beverage industry, including mainstream energy drinks companies in the United States, spoke on behalf of the association.
“One of our highest priorities is to ensure the safety of our products,” he said.
He added they go beyond government regulations and voluntarily list the amount of caffeine in each drink “because consumers deserve to know.”
“We include advisory statements on every bottle and can we sell pointing out that energy drinks are not recommended for children, pregnant or nursing women or people who are sensitive to caffeine,” he said, adding that parents should know what’s best for their families, “which is why our companies have all agreed not to market drinks to our children.”
Camacho said they would prefer a statewide blanket policy rather than a city ordinance that could make business harder for the companies.
“If you do it here in Lancaster but it isn’t done in Palmdale and it isn’t done in other local cities, it just makes doing business a lot harder for our companies across the state and across the country,” he said.
“The problem I have with it is even you agree people under 18 should not be drinking these,” said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris. “The reality is nobody should be drinking them, but if you’re over 18, you get to make all kinds of choices that may or may not be good for you. But under 18, it is our obligation to protect them, and just because nobody else is doing it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it, especially in light of the fact that the industry acknowledges children should not be drinking this stuff.”