--- title: Middlebury College Bans Energy Drinks, Link to High-Risk Sex description: Middlebury College in Vermont is banning on-campus sales of energy drinks, claiming they are linked to "problematic behavior." canonical: https://time.com/4239449/middlebury-college-bans-energy-drinks-links-to-high-risk-sexual-activity/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-26T21:54:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:30:32.155Z article:section: Health og:title: College Bans Energy Drinks for Contributing to 'High-Risk Sexual Activity' og:description: The ban will take effect on March 7 og:url: https://time.com/4239449/middlebury-college-bans-energy-drinks-links-to-high-risk-sexual-activity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3081aabdf963715/69887f5e3c1639411145c356/energy-drink-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Highly Caffeinated Drinks, Five Hour Energy And Monster Energy Cited In 13 Death Reports og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: College Bans Energy Drinks for Contributing to 'High-Risk Sexual Activity' twitter:description: The ban will take effect on March 7 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3081aabdf963715/69887f5e3c1639411145c356/energy-drink-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # College Bans Energy Drinks for Contributing to 'High-Risk Sexual Activity' > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=80888426-62c8-4eba-8fd0-9a03471ae390&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 26, 2016 9:54 PM UTC  5-Hour Energy 5-Hour Energy Spencer Platt/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 26, 2016 9:54 PM UTC Middlebury College in Vermont is banning on-campus sales of [energy drinks](http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/19/what-you-should-know-about-caffeine/), claiming they are linked to “problematic behavior” such as “high-risk sexual activity” and abuse of “intoxicating” substances, [reports NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/college-game-plan/middlebury-college-bans-energy-drinks-linking-use-alcohol-sex-n526576). The ban, which will take effect on March 7, will apply to popular beverages such as [Red Bull](http://time.com/3980526/red-bull-blackface-video/) and [5-hour ENERGY](http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/11/15/can-5-hour-energy-kill-you/), according to [The Middlebury Campus](http://middleburycampus.com/article/college-to-stop-sale-of-energy-drinks/). Dining Services officials said the drinks don’t encourage a healthy lifestyle for the college’s students. “Energy drink consumption facilitates unhealthy work habits such as prolonged periods of sleeplessness, contributing to a campus culture of stress and unsustainable study habits.”a flyer in Middlebury’s Wilson Cafe reads. **Read More:** [Energy Drinks Have Doctors Worried](http://time.com/3935287/energy-drinks-have-doctors-worried/) But some students aren’t happy with the decision. “There are more important things for them to address,” Arnav Adhikari, a senior who works at the cafe, told NBC News. “And what do energy drinks have to do with sexual activity?” However, the decree doesn’t prohibit students from consuming the drinks, only from buying them at campus stores and dining halls. Those who enjoy the drinks are still free to buy them at off-campus locations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4239449/middlebury-college-bans-energy-drinks-links-to-high-risk-sexual-activity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4239449/middlebury-college-bans-energy-drinks-links-to-high-risk-sexual-activity/"},"headline":"College Bans Energy Drinks for Contributing to 'High-Risk Sexual Activity'","datePublished":"2016-02-26T21:54:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:30:32.155Z","description":"The ban will take effect on March 7","url":"https://time.com/4239449/middlebury-college-bans-energy-drinks-links-to-high-risk-sexual-activity/","keywords":["health","Newsfeed","Energy drinks","colleges"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3081aabdf963715/69887f5e3c1639411145c356/energy-drink-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3081aabdf963715/69887f5e3c1639411145c356/energy-drink-ban.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Highly Caffeinated Drinks, Five Hour Energy And Monster Energy Cited In 13 Death Reports","caption":"5-Hour Energy","creditText":"Spencer Platt/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health/","name":"health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4239449/middlebury-college-bans-energy-drinks-links-to-high-risk-sexual-activity/","name":"College Bans Energy Drinks for Contributing to 'High-Risk Sexual Activity'"}}]}] ```