The sponsor of a proposal to outlaw the sale of so-called “energy drinks” to minors has been surprised at the vigorous response it has generated.

Rep. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, told members of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday that he has been inundated with e-mails and phone calls from Mainers opposed to the measure.

“They’re either questioning my IQ or my qualifications to serve in the Legislature,” he said ruefully at the outset of the public hearing on LD 2034.

No one other than Jackson spoke in support of the proposal. And despite the deluge of derision he’s heard privately, the only public testimony against the measure was delivered by a representative of the beverage industry.

Jackson acknowledged that his colleagues have their hands full with weightier issues this session, including the tanking state budget, the sluggish economy and the high cost of energy. And he recognized that the proposal could be interpreted as an infringement of parental authority.

But the proliferation of caffeine-charged energy drinks available on store shelves should be viewed with concern, Jackson maintained.

Few of the products list their caffeine content on the label, he said, so consumers have no idea how much of the stimulant they’re ingesting. And while a moderate amount of caffeine may be harmless, at high doses it can increase blood pressure and cause heart palpitations and other abnormal heart rhythms, he noted.

Jackson said youngsters may abuse the products by drinking many containers at one sitting or by consuming them steadily throughout the day.

“Having kids with high blood pressure day in and day out can’t be a good thing,” he said. “I can’t see any reason why it should be legal for an 8-year-old to buy something like this.”

Speaking for the Maine Beverage Association, lobbyist Newell Auger said many readily available consumer products contain caffeine, including coffee, yogurt, ice cream, chocolate, iced tea and over-the-counter pain medicines such as Excedrin.

Studies have shown repeatedly that caffeine doesn’t have toxic effects, regardless of its source, he said.

Energy drinks are not sold in schools or other “youth venues,” he told committee members, and advertising is geared to a target audience of 18- to 35-year-old males, not to children.

Auger said the state of Maine spends about $200,000 a year licensing vendors of nicotine products like cigarettes and enforcing laws against selling them to minors. It would cost a similar amount to effectively prohibit the sale of energy drinks to minors, he said.

And at $2 to $3 a can, energy drinks are too expensive for most youngsters to indulge in, Auger said.

“I don’t know how many 8-year-olds are running around with five bucks in their pockets, much less without parental supervision,” he said.

Rep. Ann Perry, D-Calais, who is the committee’s House chairman and a nurse practitioner, observed that caffeine’s presence in pain medications and its widespread use as a stimulant indicate its effectiveness.

“It’s not benign; it does have an effect on the body,” she said. Perry suggested that a campaign to educate consumers about the positive and negative effects of caffeine in energy drinks would be appropriate.

A work session on the measure is scheduled for March 5.