Are energy drinks a pathway to Ice/amphetamines?

[Tannin]

I'm only too familiar with those statistics, TP. They are dreadful. But energy drinks make a bad situation even worse. Much worse.

I agree, of course, that you can't ban stupid. In your way, with this point you are repeating the point that DSavid made earlier about underlying causes - and it's a point I agree with entirely.

Nevertheless, energy drinks significantly inflame an already-bad situation. Regardless of how well or badly we manage the underlying causes, the widespread availability of energy drinks makes it worse. Ban the %&^%&$£ things!

[stui magpie]

FWIW I don't think energy drinks should be banned, just regulated.

It's way too easy for primary school age kids to just buy them and potentially develop a stimulant habit.

Go to a junior football game, you'll see kids drinking them before a game.

I get Davids point that not everyone who takes energy drinks gets addicted and goes onto Ice. Not everyone who takes Ice gets addicted to it, nor does everyone who drinks alcohol beat their wife or drive drunk and kill people.

But enough do to make it a worry and, as backed up partially by WPT, there's a pretty strong correlation between people who do use Ice having been energy drink or other stimulant users/abusers.

So put some regulations in place, make them legal to sell to over 18's only, same as alcohol. FFS, you can't buy a kitchen knife in Victoria unless you're over 15 yet a 10 year old can walk into Coles and walk out with a 6 pack of V.

Also, stop them marketing to children. A key plank of their marketing is sponsoring and associating themselves with and sponsoring things that have a target audience of teenage boys. Some education on how frigging dangerous these things are would be good too, too many dickheads think they've just soft drink and why not, they're sold in the soft drink aisle at supermarkets.

You can't legislate against stupidity but you can protect kids better. Let em climb trees, let em get hurt on the play equipment, bicycle or skateboard but don't let em poison themselves before they're old enough to even understand what they're doing.

[think positive]

Something sure needs to be done about the ice epidemic

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-19/use-of-drug-ice-doubled-in-melbourne-suburbs-in-past-year/7043108?section=vic

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-23/drug-drivers-exceed-rate-drink-drivers-research/6342102


Scary stuff, wonder how many over the top road rage incidents it's caused too?