Is Energy Drink Overdose in Teens Really a Problem?
One would think that teens and kids overdosing on the caffeine contained in energy drinks is a huge problem in the USA.
Daily, my Google Reader is inundated with news stories proclaiming the dangers of energy drinks for teens and about certain politicians calling for their banning and regulation.
However, is energy drink overdose really the huge problem it’s proclaimed to be? Now, I’m not discussing alcohol/energy hybrids, I’m just discussing energy drinks like Monster and other beverages where caffeine would be the only “harmful substance”.
Energy Drink Overdose and The American Association of Poison Control Centers
If you’re not familiar with the The American Association of Poison Control Centers, they are the governmental agency responsible for collecting the information on all the ways people are poisoned each year. They publish a very detailed annual report documenting reported cases during that given year.
The latest report available is from 2009. Let’s look at how many people reported an overdose of caffeine in 2009 compared with the reported cases of Tylenol (acetaminophen) overdose.
| Cases Reported 2009 | Caffeine | Tylenol |
| Total Reported | 4,535 | 41,756 |
| 5 yrs. or less | 1,249 | 8,667 |
| 6-12 yrs. | 154 | 1,499 |
| 13-19 yrs. | 788 | 5,780 |
| 20 yrs. or over | 985 | 10,902 |
| Accidental | 1,890 | 16,252 |
| Intentional | 1,021 | 11,235 |
| Major reactions | 7 | 517 |
| Deaths | 0 | 51 |
Energy Drink Overdose Conclusions
Now looking at the above data, do energy drinks and caffeine deserve such a public outcry regarding danger, regulation, and banning? The last time I checked, any 13 year old can go to Walmart and buy Tylenol which has “harmed” many more teens than caffeine.
I never see news articles or governments calling for the banning of Tylenol sales to minors. How many teens or kids died from overdosing on Energy drinks in 2009? A big fat zero, that’s how many, while Tylenol killed 51 people!
I think we just need to keep things in perspective and use hard data to back up our position on things. Energy drink overdose is absolutely not the huge problem that media and certain segments of government would want you to believe that it is.
Source: The American Association of Poison Control Centers
23 Comments
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@cableguy
I think that if two energy drinks made you hallucinate and take violent dumps you should consult a doctor, at the tender age of 15 the worst I’v had is discoloured urine after a frankly foolish amount of monster, and that was much more then two.
Your findings are biased and not scholarly in any way, therefore they are highly unreliable. Why are they biased? Because you compare Caffeine to Tylenol. While both are addictive drugs, Tylenol is a medicine, and Energy Drinks have more caffeine than coffee sometimes. There have been fatalities due to overdose on Energy Drinks. You shouldn’t compare a medicine to a energy supplement, that’s just bad logic.
@Dre
He’s just comparing a small issue to a bigger issue, however biased, still true facts.