Coffee as an age restricted beverage?

In My Humble Opinion
1

This ties in to the other thread going on in CS where a poster said that he was refused coffee from a flight attendant when he was 16 due to his age.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508865
I had never heard of anything like this happening, and considering that I started drinking coffee when I was about 11 I think it would have come up. Have you or anyone you know ever been refused coffee at a retail establishment because of age?

2

No.

3

Nope, that has to be the most unenforceable thing out there. If you want a beverage as strong, or stronger then coffee just brew your tea with 3+ bags per cup.

4

Apparently coffee is quite popular with teenagers these days, or so I’ve heard. To try to restrict coffee to those over a certain age would be suicide from a business standpoint.

5

Hell, with all of the Red Bull/Rockstar drinks that the teenagers seem to be into I would think coffee would be the least of people’s worries. Those drinks have freaking warnings on the cans.

6

I never liked coffee.

My daughter loves coffee at six, and has been requesting it on a regular basis since she was about three.

I don’t let her have it very often, however- I keep it on par with coca cola. Rare thing, and only early in the day unless we are having an evening out.

7

On the contrary, I think a ban on caffeine would be pretty easily enforceable. I love and need my caffeine but I wouldn’t go through the trouble of acquiring it if I had to deal with black market baristas.
Oh and I don’t think it should be an age restricted beverage.

8

Are there any serious health risks, like growth stunting or whatever (it seems all “adult” things are supposed to stunt your growth). Health risks are probably the only basis for age restriction, but I honestly don’t know how damaging caffeine can be to a developing body (or even to an adult).

I don’t know if or even how coffee could be restricted nowadays, but I do find it creepy when I see 8 year olds with large double-doubles. But then, I don’t drink coffee at all, so perhaps that’s creepy to them! I also think children drinking Red Bull at 8am (heck, anyone drinking Red Bull at 8am!) isn’t a good thing.