Andreas Tsakanias

Adam Padgett
9/12/16
English 102
Caffeine, a refreshing beverage or an addictive drug?
Caffeine: a compound that is found in teas and coffee plants and stimulates the nervous
system of the human body. It is something that within the beverage causes a feeling of a rush
being sent through the body, enabling the person consuming the beverage to feel coherent of
their surroundings. This substance is within so many consumable items that most people do not
even notice until the effects begin to affect the mind and body of the person who ingested the
caffeine. But what causes people to have the urge to buy and take in drink and food items that
contain caffeine? Is it the fact that they have already had caffeine before and they are at the point
where they need it to function normally? The ability of getting their hands of this substance is as
easy as walking into a store or coffee shop and simply paying five dollars to get enough to cause
the body to stay awake for several hours on hand. Places like Starbucks, which is a company that
strives buy selling all things caffeinated and decaf, tries to apply good service and the
applications of different varieties of flavors to cover up the caffeine that is within the beverage.
Caffeine is something that no one notices as a drug but once taken in, it can cause the desperate
need for the rush simply for the person to feel like they are functioning normally.
These kind of drinks bring up a couple of questions that regard the classification of
caffeine being a drug. For instance, does the lack of a caffeine rush cause the body to have
symptoms of withdrawal? Does caffeine have the same effect on the body as if someone were to
take some sort of narcotic? What does caffeine actually do to the body and the mind of the

person who is ingesting the substance? If caffeine turns out to have the same effects as narcotics,
would caffeine be banned for sale? And how does the sale of caffeinated beverages actually
effect the global economy? Questions like this can bring up several speculations of whether or
not something should be banned or forced to be sold to the public. Similar to the sale of drugs
across the world, the public has to travel to some sort of specific location simply to get that
feeling of feeling awake or focused after consuming tea or coffee. But which actually has more
of an effect on the body? Is coffee overpowered by certain teas or is the strong taste of coffee
overpower the effects of teas and other caffeinated drinks?
In the article Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Binary Drug Mixtures:
Studies with Cocaine, MDPV, and Caffeine. Scientists tested the compound of
drug that were being used to sell on the streets and from country to country
to see what exactly was within the substance that made it so addictive. It
turns out that over 50 percent of the drugs that are distributed have caffeine
within the compound (Collins). Which concludes that even coffee and teas
have some sort of addictive substance that makes people who consume the
substance gain an urge for more of the liquid. As explained within the article
caffeine is used in order to prepare certain drugs and other substances which
shows that even though coffee or tea is not illegal, the use of the substance
is need in the preparations of several different drugs that are illegal in
manufacturing and distribution of the product. Coffee is something that gives
a boost of energy to the body and allows the person to remain up for a long
amount of time and it can sometimes allow the person to be more focused
then if they were not to drink any caffeine. Although in some cases this

might be helpful, caffeine can have negative effects on the human body.
After the effect of the energy rush the body begins to crash. Depending on
the amount consumed the crash of the mind can be subtle or drastic. These
symptoms are all similar to the aftermath of hard drug like cocaine and other
kinds of uppers that the human body can ingest.
Although caffeine is used in damaging substances, the article Effects
of habitual coffee consumption on cardiometabolic disease, cardiovascular
health, and all-cause mortality. Goes on to explain that the consumption of
coffee is actually beneficial to the human body. For those people whom drink
two or more cups of coffee the benefits of this included, being able to avoid
any sort of heart disease or diabetes (Okeefe). The simple acts of drinking
just a few cups a day can prevent so many cases of these illnesses in the
future even though it is not regularly practiced. Even though consuming
coffee can benefit the body in several different ways it also applies harm
towards the person as well. The effects of consuming to much coffee can
lead to insomnia and even the possibility of have fragile and easily fractured
bones in the body. Personally, I am a everyday drinker of coffee and I
completely understand the effects of what the caffeine can do to the body
especially if the person does not have coffee after a while. After reading
these articles I truly believe that a certain amount of caffeine should be
maintains and constrained from being overpassed for the wellbeing of the
people consuming it.

Within the article Human Drug Discrimination and Multiple Chemical

Sensitivity: Caffeine Exposure as an Experimental Model. The authors go on
to explain that some people have problems dealing with certain symptoms
like being fatigued or having memory difficulties which are all caused by
some type of substance. These substances include alcohol, perfume, caffeine
which have such a large effect on the body that it completely alters the way
that the body works (Eissenberg). It just goes to show that consumers of
these substances actually do get effected even when its unnoticed. The
symptoms following the consumption of the beverages should be well
enough evidence in defense that a certain amount of caffeine consumption
should be illegal.
The consumption of these drinks, regardless of the delicious tastes
some of them give off, need to be sustained in order to permit people to
maintain a healthy lifestyle that will allow their lifespan to increase
dramatically. Containing the substance will also help so cases of people
whom suffer from insomnia and also the unfortunate cases of bone density
being lost within a patient. With these two article I will be able to state that
some caffeine should be illegal to be sold to the public simply because the
effects of the drinks are no different than the illegal drugs that are sold on
the streets. An excessive amount of caffeine should be illegal for the safety
of thi generation and the generations to come.

Works Cited
Collins, G. T., M. Abbott, K. Galindo, E. L. Rush, K. C. Rice, and C. P. France.
"Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Binary Drug Mixtures: Studies with
Cocaine, MDPV, and Caffeine." Journal of Pharmacology and
Experimental Therapeutics 359.1 (2016): 1-10. Web.
Eissenberg, Thomas, and Roland R. Griffiths. "Human Drug Discrimination
and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Caffeine Exposure as an

Experimental Model." Environmental Health Perspectives 105 (1997):

509. Web.
O'keefe, James H., Salman K. Bhatti, Harshal R. Patil, James J. Dinicolantonio,
Sean C. Lucan, and Carl J. Lavie. "Effects of Habitual Coffee
Consumption on Cardiometabolic Disease, Cardiovascular Health, and
All-Cause Mortality." Journal of the American College of Cardiology
62.12 (2013): 1043-051. Web.