Should your tax dollars pay for energy drinks
for poor people? That's the question asked
by the Austin American Statesman. At least
one patriotic Texas politician says no.
But it's more than just taxpayer money Terry
Canales is worried about, it's the children.
Canales, a Democrat in the Texas House, is
worried, because children today have become
so fiendishly addicted to caffeine, and parents
so impotent in their ability to say no, that
families are squandering their last dollars
buying energy drinks for the kids.
As he says, we are denying a child a meal
because mom decided or dad decided they were
going to actually let Junior buy the $5 can
of Monster.
To make matters worse, it's overwhelmingly
clear that these (drinks) are not safe.
We are buying something that not only denied
them a meal but now is causing them health
problems.
And the science is on his side.
According to Drug Abuse Warning Network at
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, the large amounts of caffeine
found in energy drinks can lead to trouble
sleeping and headaches.
Wow, caffeine keeps you awake?
Caffeine gave you a headache, take some headache
medicine.
Even scarier: death by energy drink:
An 8 oz. cup of coffee: 95 mg caffeine.
A 16 oz. can of Monster: 172 mg caffeine.
Lethal dose of caffeine: 5 grams.
That's only 29 cans Monster, or the amount
most teens drink in a round of battlefield
4.
That much caffeine will almost certainly kill
you, or at least give you a lot of energy,
if the over hydration doesn't get you first.
To make matters worse:
Research has established that, among college
students, there are associations between energy
drink consumption and problematic behaviors
such as marijuana use, sexual risk taking,
fighting, smoking, drinking, and prescription
drug misuse.
Terry Canales introduced Bill 493 late last
year. To ban energy drinks from the SNAP program,
what used to be called food stamps.
I, with my own eyes, have seen children walking
up and mom or dad buying this for them, Canales
told the paper.
And it's a good thing too, because if not
for Canales own field research, we might not
even know this problem exists.
SNAP doesn't release purchase data.
Anyhow, Giving kids a drink that fills them
with energy and keeps them awake: That's bad
for parents, not kids.
Smart parents give their kids sleeping pills.
Economics in the media thinks Representative
Canales is an American hero.
But his bill does not go far enough.
SNAP recipients are likely killing themselves
everyday with dangerous purchases.
We need to demand that Canales next call for
a ban to:
Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte's, which according
to renowned science writer Vani Hari, contains
a toxic dose of sugar.
Bread, which contains gluten. Need I say more?
El Pollo Loco. It is unconscionable that we
as a society allow children to eat crazy chicken,
one of the leading causes of crazy chicken
disease.
If you disagree with me, you are a communist.
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