Comments on: Our drug addicted society

By: Stuart Langridge

Stuart Langridge — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

See Daniel Davies commenting on the whole caffeine thing back in 2003 (http://tinyurl.com/fgmnf), especially where he wonders what the consequences will be of “the world’s greatest superpower (a superpower which has always had a very problematic relationship with drugs) finally finding a chemical it truly wants to get fucked up on”.

By: erikg

erikg — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Actually, I tried both amphetamine and cocaine before I ever tried coffee. My first encounter with coffee was at midnight before a deadline, when I was really tired but had lots of programming left to do. So I downed three cups, and was totally blown away by how powerful it was. I still had trouble sleeping at 8 in the morning, and was shaking constantly.

To me, having never tried caffeine before, it was way more powerful than cocaine, and somewhat similar to amphetamine (although amphetamine gave me a more comfortable buzz, while caffeine was just disturbingly intense).

I’ve since become a regular coffee drinker and it seems I’ve developed a tolerance for it over time, as it no longer has that powerful an effect on me. But it did highlight the hypocracy of a society that views amphetamine as pure evil in powder form, while it’s totally accepted to drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day to “keep going”.

By: Espen

Espen — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Caffeine is quite the powerful stimulant and it would definitely be outlawed if it wasn’t for the our perception that caffeine is legal and therefore not a true drug, it’s all a bunch of hypocrisy really.
Same for alcohol which is far more damaging than most recreational drugs.
I also wonder how many people don’t really realize they are addicted to caffeine.

I view coffee as I view other recreational drugs that I do, never get into a usage routine, moderation is key and know its effects

By: DG

DG — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t drink tea/coffee/coke/pepsi etc for the very reason that I don’t wish to drug myself up constantly.

On the other hand, I’m quite happy to drink a bottle of beer in an evening, so I suppose I’m a bit of a hypocrite.

Anyway, I find it quite amusing that when I meet new people they find it odd that I don’t drink tea/coffee, and would instead prefer water. At least by not drinking caffinated drinks often (at least not intentionally), when I do need to stay awake they have a reasonable effect on me.

By: Jeff Bailey

Jeff Bailey — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I gave up caffeine something like 13 or 14 years ago when my body acquired perma-shakes. I didn’t enjoy the withdrawl, nor the couple years of crazy sleep patterns.

What’s wild is that now I feel like I finally have a ton more energy. I can generally stay up late through just force of will. Getting up early in the morning isn’t hard.

My drug of choice remains alcohol, but even that I find I consume only sparingly.

By: Alan Horkan

Alan Horkan — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I read a factoid which claimed Eskimos (inuit?) were the only society that didn’t include drugs in their society. Food, religion, pleasure, it seems just about everyone finds a suitable excuse. Prohibition doesn’t work.

By: fraggle

fraggle — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

There was an interesting article on kuro5hin a few years back by a caffeine addict. It's not always as innocent a drug as you might think:

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/8/29/19143/1847

By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, people taking coffee everyday is not very well…