[Editor’s Note: Mr. Parks is in his final term as Los Angeles City Councilman for the 8th District, South/southwest Los Angeles.]
[img]2437|right|Bernard Parks||no_popup[/img]Have you felt tired lately, rundown, listless? Like there are not enough hours to finish all the tasks at hand, let alone maintain the energy to do half of them.
We love a quick fix. Since Vitameatavegamin never made it to market, some of us have resorted to imbibing energy drinks with such high levels of caffeine. They make No-Doz look like Tic Tacs.
At last Monday’s meeting of the Arts, Parks, Health, Aging and River Committee, members heard my motion regarding restricting the sale of energy drinks to minors and properly informing city employees on the potential detrimental effects these beverages may impose on one’s health. Noel Pallais, my Planning and Economic Development Deputy, testified on my behalf. You can listen to the committee meeting here.
Energy drinks are widely accessible and marketed heavily to younger people, but also to those who are just plain dog tired. The packaging for these drinks is brazenly bright and boasts about the surge of energy and power they contain.
Did you know in the American Psychiatric Assn.’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Caffeine Use Disorder is listed? Caffeine is everywhere, even added to Cracker Jacks.
What concerns me about energy drinks is the potentially hazardous amount of caffeine they contain and how these drinks aren’t really regulated regarding their caffeine content. You could get a drink out of a store’s cooler and the amount of caffeine in the can might vary to the can behind it. Never mind what the label says. It depends on whether you got the most potent batch of the product. More troubling is that some people rely on energy drinks for sustenance and in place of sleep, relying on these beverages to get through the day rather than an adequate meal or proper rest.
Teens have been dying from indulging in these drinks. Although the Food and Drug Administration does not currently regulate or dictate what is a safe energy drink, they do have an Adverse Event Report System that denotes the medical complications and instances of death that have been reported to them. Take a look. Even Four Loko was decent enough to remove caffeine from its brew. People were dying from their product, too. Caffeinated alcoholic beverages are a separate issue.
In September 2012, Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) asked the FDA to investigate caffeine levels in energy drinks. Nothing. The research is there yet the FDA has failed to take a stand. How many heart palpitations will it take before we do anything?
I want to make clear that my motion does not seek to form a sort of beverage police state. My motion seeks to:
• Restrict the self-service sale of energy drinks to minors (those under 18), you would have to show an ID to purchase
• Issue a bulletin that notifies city employees on the potential adverse effects of consuming energy drinks
• Request that the City Attorney consider joining the City of San Francisco in their lawsuit against Monster Beverage Corporation.
The committee has requested the city’s personnel department to return with a report in 30 days.
Mr. Parks may be contacted at Bernard.C.Parks@lacity.org
