FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Mar 23, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A school district in
Florida is considering a ban on energy drinks after four students were taken to
the hospital after drinking the "high octane" beverages.
The Miami Herald reported Sunday that the Broward County School Board is
considering banning from its campuses drinks that promise such things as a burst
of energy and weight loss.
"You see something like a 12-year-old drinking one of these, and it's really
scary," board member Beverly Gallagher was quoted as saying.
The newspaper reported that students already cannot buy energy drinks on campus
in Broward or Miami-Dade County, but they can bring them on campus.
Laws banning energy drink sales to minors are under discussion in Kentucky and
Idaho, and a California government health agency is considering mandatory
warning labels.
"Broward is probably on the leading edge of this," said Jeff Wahlen, president
of the Florida School Board Attorneys Association. "Banning things that make it
difficult for kids to concentrate and study is, I think, clearly in bounds."
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