University's attempts to ban energy drinks causes uproar

Protests against plans by the University of New Hampshire to ban non-alcoholic energy drink from campus, illustrated how keen students are on the extra boost they get from such drinks.Within four days of revealing plans to ban the drinks, the university had abandoned the plans after uproar among the student community. The reasons given for the ban was to prevent students mixing the energy drinks with alcohol.However, the university’s president, Mark Huddleston, published an update last week stating that there was no real evidence to suggest that energy drinks exacerbate alcohol abuse. In fact, he stated, "I do not now see a clear rationale for eliminating an option that our students say they want.”The students claim they often use energy drinks, such as Red Bull, to make them more alert before studying or before a test and were angry at the move to try to ban the drink. Red Bull’s spokesperson added that the product meets Federal safety standards and that it is used for innocent reasons by students. He said, "College students consume Red Bull Energy Drink because it works. The benefits of Red Bull tie in naturally with the daily activities of college students as the product delivers energy and the ability to focus."Students also argued that a campus-wide ban on selling energy drinks would have limited impact as the students could still buy them off campus.

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