after teen’s death, a growing push to ban sale of energy drinks to quebec kids

calls are growing for quebec to ban the sale of energy drinks to teens in the wake of the 2024 death of a 15-year-old whose adhd medication interacted with red bull.groups from the sports and health sectors are the latest to back the "zachary miron movement" launched in march by the teen's parents, joining those from the education sector. the movement asks supporters to sign a national assembly petition requesting a ban on the sale of energy drinks to those under the age of 16 and potentially all minors, noting other countries — like england, norway, latvia and lithuania — have adopted similar measures."it’s huge," patricia steben, director general of collège de montréal and spokesperson for the three schools that first began mobilizing behind miron's parents, said of the support thus far. "now we’re hoping that the general public who support us will sign this petition — which is now at 32,000 signatures — so it can have even more impact."people can sign the petition through may 5.miron was on a ski trip with his school in january 2024 when he suffered a malignant cardiac arrhythmia, determined by a coroner in an august 2025 report to have been the result of an interaction between caffeine from the energy drink and a stimulant, methylphenidate, used to treat adhd."it is advised against combining methylphenidate and energy drinks due to the potential interactions between the medication and the stimulants present in the drink," the report reads. several studies have shown there are risks associated with the consumption of energy drinks among youth in general, not only those on certain medications. a report mandated by the coalition avenir québec government had recommended restricting youth access to energy drinks back in 2023 — a recommendation that was supported by public health.asked tuesday if she plans to act, health minister sonia bélanger, who met miron's parents recently, replied in a statement that the growing appeal of energy drinks among young people "is very concerning." "we did not wait to act," she said. "awareness measures are already being rolled out among youth, parents, as well as in school and health-care settings."bélanger said she familiarized herself with the issue shortly after taking office to see "how we could accelerate action." "we want to move forward in a rigorous way, based on data and science, to better understand the risks and interactions with certain medications," she said, adding that she launched a process with a representative from each opposition party to share concerns and explore solutions, "particularly on the question of a possible ban."a second meeting will be held soon. québec solidaire health critic and mna guillaume cliche-rivard, who supported miron's parents in launching the petition, said he feels there's a "joint willingness to do something for our youth.""i feel that we’re on ground that goes beyond political parties," he said. "a bit like the issue of medical assistance in dying, or something like screen time. we’re not in political partisanship on this issue." cliche-rivard said he thinks there's enough time before the end of the parliamentary session to act. "i’m really calling on minister bélanger, the caq and the other opposition parties to reach out and work together so we can adopt something quickly," he said, noting a recent léger poll showed 86 per cent of quebecers agree with setting 16 as the minimum age for the sale of energy drinks.the following groups described as having a total of more than a million members joined the cause tuesday: sports québec, which groups together 67 sports federations and 17 regional sport and leisure units; the réseau du sport étudiant du québec; the quebec maritimes junior hockey league; the ligue de développement du hockey m18 aaa; the fédération des éducateurs et éducatrices physiques enseignants du québec; fillactive; alliance sport-Études and fondation aléo. the movement also has the support of pierre lavoie, founder of grand défi pierre lavoie.the fédération des kinésiologues du québec, collectif vital and the association pour la santé publique du québec have also joined.isabelle ducharme, director general of sports québec, said the group noticed a trend among young people to turn to energy drinks in the hopes of improving performance, which isn't healthy or safe. "if you want to perform, it's not at any cost," she said. "we hope for youth to be aware of this. we want young people to say: 'if i play my sport, i don't need an energy drink to run faster. i don't need an energy drink to score a goal. what i need is rest, recovery from training, being coached, preparing well, eating well.'"the sports and health groups join 21 school organizations that spoke out in support of the cause earlier in april, which steben described as "the vast majority of all school organizations" in quebec.steben said she does feel there is an openness on the part of bélanger, but that "it's not concrete enough." the transpartisan meeting was a good step, she said."now, let's take action."kthomas@postmedia.com