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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

New Restrictions On Powdered Substances

"coffee" By Flickr User Jennie Robinson Faber / (CC BY 2.0)

Illinois has made powdered caffeine off limits to minors, while banning the sale of powdered alcohol to anyone. 

Democratic Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant sponsored the law that took effect the first of the year banning the sale of powdered caffeine to minors.

She says because the stimulant is so commonplace people may not be aware of the dangers of the powdered substance, which is highly concentrated. 

“It concerned me that this product which is pure caffeine was being sold to children under eighteen. It’s so hard to measure that you could easily overdose. One teaspoon of it equals about twenty five cups of coffee,” Bertino-Tarrant said.

There have been at least two documented cases in the U.S. of young people dying after taking powdered caffeine.

One was an Ohio teenager who was found to have twenty-three times more caffeine in his system than an average coffee drinker.

The ban on powdered alcohol comes as several other states have also outlawed it. 

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