Warnings are being urged to be added to labels of high caffeine energy drinks due to the risk that young people have of increased use of prescription drug abuse.
According to the marketing, regulation and health effects of caffeinated energy drinks report, many energy drinks contain levels of caffeine as their main source of energy but according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University they are very dangerous, especially for young people.
According to lead researcher Dr. Roland R. Griffiths, these drinks are labeled as performance enhancers, a fact that may encourage young people to try drugs in the quest for the same effect.
The research study found that in some energy drinks, there is 14 times the amount of caffeine that one would find in a can of coke, a fact that is very dangerous if multiple drinks are consumed.
The Food and Drug Administration has regulations in place for regulating caffeine levels in coke products, but not for energy drinks.
“It seems like it’s a pretty easy threshold to step over, but as a society we want to make this a bright line,” Griffiths said in an interview with Reuters.
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