Store stops selling energy drinks to minors
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 | 7:51 AM AT
CBC News
A pharmacy chain on P.E.I. has decided not to wait for government regulations on energy drinks, and has stopped selling them to people under the age of 18.
'Are hamburgers next, Tim Hortons coffee?'— Mike Hammoud, Atlantic Convenience Store Association
P.E.I. is one of the few jurisdictions in Canada to ban energy drinks in schools, but there are no rules to stop minors from buying them in stores. Murphy's Pharmacies has decided not to wait for those rules, and is acting on its own in its nine Island stores.
"The signage says, we do not sell energy drinks to anyone under the age of 18, and you may be asked for ID," Heather MacLean, sales and marketing manager for Murphy's, told CBC News Tuesday.
"We know that Health Canada has advised that children under the age of 18 should not be consuming energy drinks, and we felt that it was responsible thing for us to do."
Health Canada says the risks can range from heart palpitations, to misdiagnosis of ADHD.
No more regulation needed, argues store association
The P.E.I. Medical Society has called on the province to control the sale of energy drinks to young people, and home and school associations across the country are lobbying Ottawa for rules.
But Mike Hammoud, president of the Atlantic Convenience Store Association, said enforcement should not fall on shopkeepers, who he said already have to follow too many regulations.
"Where does common sense start and regulation stop?" he said.
"Are hamburgers next, Tim Hortons coffee?"
Hammoud said the association has taken steps to educate retailers and customers on the risks of energy drinks. Information pamphlets have been sent to all store owners in Atlantic Canada.
"I don't think that we as an association have the right to tell people who they can and can't sell products to," said Hammoud.
"[This is] a legal product that's already governed by the federal government in this country."
Last fall a legislative committee recommended the province educate Islanders on the risk of energy drinks, but nothing has happened since then.
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