Hi, my name is Caleb Bromley. I am 18 years old and live and work in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand. The petition contains my personal reasons on why I think this would be a valuable move if such a proposal is ever to enter legislation in New Zealand. The petition is especially written and aimed to our current Minister of Health, Dr. Jonathan Coleman. Please note it is by no means linked or connected to the UK sugar tax campaign. While this petition may sound rather harsh to some I think it would benefit greatly to our society and especially to concerned parents by encouraging a more healthy lifestyle for our young people. With some thought, I have chosen 16 because I think it's a defining age where the individual can more properly understand the health risks involved concerning this issue. Let's get started! Studies show that a safe adult intake of caffeine is about 400mgs a day whereas a child is only 45-85mgs a day. To give you an idea of what that equates to, a standard 500ml can of Monster contains approximately 240mgs per serving. Think about it. This is a huge and dangerous difference in daily intake! On average days, I'm constantly seeing many young children (youngest being only around 7 years of age) buying and walking around with a 500ml energy drink in their hand. I strongly believe that a young person drinking such a high content of caffeine and other minerals such as taurine and guarana while having little knowledge on what it does to their body is extremely dangerous. I even recall when I was 16, that after drinking a Red Bull my heart was racing and my left hand was continuously shaking. At a younger age of 12, I clearly recall being taken to the doctors and A&E due to severe breathing issues that happened regularly. During that time I remember staying up all night due to the sharp pain in every breath. It was horrible. This was a pretty close time to when I was first introduced to energy drinks. Upon each emergency trip due to my breathing, I was told that my body was perfectly normal but that my diet needed some improving. At the time I would've never assumed what the culprit was to my health. The interesting thing is, ever since i've cut down (and have now quit) on my high energy drink consumption, those sharp breathing pains have gone completely. From basic observation and my own experience, I have no doubt the drinks we're linked to my health. Even at 12-16 years old I had those obvious physical effects, so imagine anyone younger (who infact have a much less recommended and safe daily intake of caffeine) consuming this stuff all the time! This type of drink is by no means on the same dietary level as a Coke, L&P, or Sprite, and It is too much of a risk for children and young teens to be ignorant of the powerful physical and mental impact these drinks have on our body. We also hear of cases in the US and other areas of the world concerning kids even at the age of 14+ who sadly kill themselves due to cardiac arrest and seizures linked to a caffeine overdose. It is not hard at all to find these facts online. Not only will making a legal limit benefit their health but by doing so it should greatly increase their mental and learning ability by being focused during school and study. Alcohol and cigarettes have their dangerous affects and are legally age controlled, whereas energy drinks are also dangerous if used unwisely (sometimes fatal) and are NOT age controlled. The availability of such a drink to very young people is a danger to which I think something needs to be done about it. Why is this so easily accessible for young people and children? Do you think this should change? One may inquire on how exactly this can be controlled. I would guess any form of age identification would do. Maybe it could be a process similar to signing up for an 18+ card and if the individual looks underage, they would undertake the same ID process as one would buying alcohol. I don't think it would be overwhelmingly hard to monitor using this way. I'm open to ideas on this part too. Thank you all who have dedicated their time to read this petition :-) I greatly appreciate it.