If a lobby to Ottawa fails to result in a ban on the sale of energy drinks to minors Prince Edward Island should act on its own, says the P.E.I. Home and School Federation.

'Children have been misdiagnosed with ADHD when in some cases it's due to drinking too much caffeine.'— Owen Parkhouse, P.E.I. Home and School

P.E.I. is one of the few places in Canada where energy drinks are banned in schools, but kids can still buy the drinks in stores. Home and school associations across Canada are lobbying to change that. They recently petitioned Ottawa to make it illegal to sell energy drinks to anyone under 18.

"Parents wouldn't even think of giving their kids a cup of coffee, so why would they allow them to have an energy drink?" said Owen Parkhouse, president of the P.E.I. association.

"I think a lot of children have been misdiagnosed with ADHD when in some cases it's due to drinking too much caffeine."

The associations are working with the former head of the P.E.I. Medical Society, Dr. Billy Scantlebury. Last year he told a provincial standing committee about the dangers of energy drinks.

"People can get palpitations, and if their heart goes into an abnormal rhythm people can actually die from that," said Scantlebury.

In November the committee recommended the province educate Islanders about those risks, but Scantlebury said nothing has been done since then. He said people are still coming into the emergency department with health problems after consuming energy drinks. "Some people come in quite acutely agitated by the products," he said.

If Ottawa won't listen, said Parkhouse, P.E.I. should become the first province to ban the drinks for minors.

Provincial officials say it would be too hard to enforce a ban on the sale to minors, and it wants Health Canada to make the first move.