Most people don’t think of caffeine as a drug. Although it isn’t a particularly dangerous drug, that attitude can be extremely dangerous – why do you think that is?
Most people don’t think of caffeine as a drug. Although it isn’t a particularly dangerous drug, that attitude can be extremely dangerous – why do you think that is?
If you think about the availability of caffeine to the public, it is everywhere. From energy drinks to coffee to pills, caffeine has infiltrated the American economy. Caffeine’s easy accessibility has made the country believe there is not much of an issue with ingesting caffeine; it is just a small pick me up. However, it is now mainstream to rely on caffeine for work, school, and just waking up in the morning. Caffeine engraved its presence in the lives of millions. How could you wake up without your morning coffee? How can stay awake writing that grant or paper? Caffeine would be the simplest way to solve the issue, but people are relying on the drug too much. Depending on caffeine to keep yourself going can be extremely dangerous, because you will have great difficulty functioning without the drug. With America’s mindset, it wouldn’t be too difficult to fall into caffeine dependence.
The attitude that caffeine is not a dangerous drug can lead people to use it regularly because of the perceived safeness. After prolonged use, people can become dependent and even experience withdrawal symptoms from the drug, which can affect a person’s behavior and attitude. The addict could spend hundreds of dollars a year buying caffeine because they cannot go a day without it, and it all started because they thought it was safe to use every day. Its hard to think of caffeine as something that can negatively influence someone life because it is everywhere. It’s impossible to walk one block without finding a place that serves coffee, but the problems arise when the caffeine is unavailable, and people have a hard time functioning properly without it. Just because something is generally safe does not mean it should be used excessively.
The mindset that caffeine is not considered harmful is dangerous because it actually can cause harm. Although you would rarely ever hear about someone dying from a caffeine overdose, the quantity that people consume can have its adverse effects. When consuming caffeine on a regular day basis, especially in large quantities, and then abruptly seizing consumption one can experience unpleasant side effects such as headaches. Even besides a minor effect such as that given one, there is an investigation of the possible correlation between caffeine and cancer and heart disease. It seems like people have a common mentality that it is completely safe. It may just be that people are not well educated on the potential dangers of it, but it’s a topic that should be addressed to reduce health risks.
As Ryan and Alan have both pointed out, dependency on any drug is a scary thing. The fact that a person could be unable to function properly without their dose of any drug is incredibly unhealthy both medically and socially. The fact that caffeine is so readily available, misunderstood to not be a drug, and virtually unregulated by the government makes the likelihood of dependence very high.
Because caffeine is not considered to be dangerous it is easily accessible to people of all ages. Because of this is considered normal to be dependent on caffeine. For example, I know plenty of people and even younger kids who regularly drink coffee on a daily basis. Although caffeine is not particularly dangerous and is not known to cause harm in regular doses, it is never a good thing to feel as if you are dependent on a substance. With regular use of caffeine people may begin to build a tolerance and seek more of the stimulant.
I think that people do not see caffeine as a harmful drug because it is legal to use and is in everything. People tend to trust that if the government says something is safe, that it completely is. Additionally, I think people realize that it is very hard to overdose on caffeine, so they think it is safe. Also, I don’t think people realize they are addicted to caffeine. You might crave that cup of coffee, but I don’t think people associate that with having an addiction. So these attitudes can cause people to become very easily addicted to caffeine, and it is never good to be addicted to anything.
Caffeine is not seen as dangerous because not many people know about the bad side of coffee. It is such a common drug, people think that because it is legal that it can not do any harm which is not true. It can lead to increased risk of miscarriage and it can slow the growth of the fetus.
Society defines everything. If society thinks that caffeine is good and that it cannot do harm, then everyone thinks that it is safe.
I see caffeine as something that is such a necessity in society, that people overlook the dangers that are brought from it. Caffeine is legal in the United States and is a part of everyday life for most adults. Considering the fact that sodas and coffee drinks both contain caffeine, there should be no surprise that teens and the even younger youth drink caffeine regularly(especially adults). Because coffee is so readily available, many consumers assume that there is not any apparent danger in consuming caffeine. Not understanding the parameters of the “drug” that you use regularly is extremely dangerous. Although caffeine is not that dangerous there should still be some awareness to how much it caffeine would result in an overdose, how addictive it is, how fast your body builds a tolerance to it, etc.
Although caffeine is not a dangerous drugs, it does cause dependent. Headaches could occur and inability could occur on cessation of drinking coffee. The attitude that most people have is not good because every drug is able to somehow alter your body and mind is someway. Also it is not good to be dependent on anything, I quit coffee the end of my freshman year in college because of my acid reflux and heart burn. So as you can see even though it isn’t dangerous. It was not doing any good for my body and it made my condition worse.
A lot of those before me have stated that they are afraid of the issues of “caffeine addicts” and the economy being effected in either positive or negative ways, but I see a much bigger issue with the nonchalant attitude that most of society has towards caffeine. That is that it paves the way for other so called “harmless” drugs.
People believe that caffeine is completely safe, that assumption is wrong. People can die from overdose, and can experience cardiac events and other adverse health effects. Caffeine is NOT totally safe, and our current culture and attitude around caffeine sets up an idea that some drugs ARE safe.
One of the main ideas of this course is that “NOTHING IS SAFE”, yet people treat caffeine like candy, and now people can think other drugs are safe too. We have already seen this with nicotine when everyone thought smoking was safe, and it can happen again with more drugs down the road if we don’t treat them like the dangerous chemicals they are.
It’s dangerous to not think of caffeine as a drug because drugs have specific adverse effects. Most stuff isn’t great when you take a lot of it, some stuff is bad when you’re coming off of it (either from a single use or long-term usage), and some stuff is bad when you take it with other stuff. Caffeine is a stimulant and a psychoactive chemical that applies to all three of the above situations. And as with any psychoactive chemical, not knowing or considering its effects can be harmful.
Taking lots of caffeine at one time can be dangerous. With large amounts of stimulation, one can be too hyperactive to focus or experience tremors. If either of those were happening to someone driving a car, many people could be in imminent danger of serious injury or death. One can experience powerful migraines, inability to concentrate and drowsiness when coming off of chronic caffeine use. It’s easy to use the driver again here as a poster boy for someone who could be in danger from these symptoms. Though it is not well-documented, caffeine use with other drugs can be harmful. Use with alcohol could lead to dehydration, and use with other stimulants might overstimulate the body or mind.