You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
Students looking for a quick energy boost at Middlebury College will soon have to either take the search off campus or stick to coffee. Starting this month, the college will stop selling energy drinks such as Red Bull and 5-Hour Energy at its campus stores and dining areas.
In an announcement last week, Dan Detora, Middlebury’s executive director of food service, warned students that energy drinks can be linked to “problematic behavior,” including “increased alcohol consumption, increased likelihood to drive while intoxicated, increased probability of use of other intoxicating substances and increased participation in high-risk sexual activity.” Students are still allowed to purchase the drinks elsewhere and bring them to campus.
While energy drinks are a popular choice for late-night study sessions, they’re also commonly consumed with alcohol, which can be a dangerous mix for young and inexperienced drinkers. A 2012 study found that college students who mixed energy drinks with alcohol were more likely to have unplanned or casual sex. Other research has found that the highly caffeinated beverages can raise blood pressure.
In November 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told makers of premixed alcoholic energy drinks that their beverages were a “public health concern” and that they could not stay on the market. The warning prompted companies to remove caffeine from the drinks, which were becoming increasingly popular with college students. Health researchers argued that the ban was not sufficient, as students could still mix energy drinks with other alcoholic beverages.
In 2011, the University of New Hampshire attempted to ban the sale of energy drinks on its campus but later walked back the decision out of respect for its “students’ ability to make informed choices about what they consume.”
Though some Middlebury students have complained about the change, the decision was made not by administrators but by the college’s Community Council, which is made up of faculty, staff and students. The idea for no longer selling the drinks was first presented to the council by a student.
“Middlebury College respects the work its students, faculty and staff have done in researching the health effects of energy drinks and in making the recommendation that the college no longer sell such drinks in our campus retail outlets,” Bill Burger, a spokesman for the college, said. “We hope that this move will contribute to a healthier campus environment.”
