Is Caffeine Addictive?
A new article has appeared in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. It asks the question “Is Caffeine Addictive?”
The common-sense use of the term addiction is that regular consumption is irresistible and that it creates problems.
Caffeine use does not fit this profile.Its intake does no harm to the individual or to society and its users are not
compelled to consume it. Though cessation of regular use may result in symptoms such as headache and lethargy, these
are easily and reliably reversed by ingestion of caffeine.Some have argued that continued caffeine use is an attempt to
suppress low grade withdrawal symptoms such as sleepiness and lethargy.In some moderate users, this is possible;
however, in experimental contexts, the phenomenon is too inconsistent to constitute a reliably valid syndrome.
In other words – there is no such thing as caffeine addiction (see the full PDF).
The article reviews over 32 different journal articles and concludes that:
Caffeine use meets neither the common sense nor the scientific definitions of an addictive substance.
Fair call. There has been a lot of alarmist media recently – comparing caffeine with drug use. There is no comparison. The social consequences that arise from alcohol and drug abuse far outweigh any issues arising from caffeine use.
If you were a parent of a 15 year old kid — what would you prefer: That he drinks a couple of Red Bulls a day? Or a couple of beers a day? Or a touch of amphetamines?
As to the study – note the acknowledgements: “This research was supported by a grant from the American Beverage Association.”
23 Comments
although it is interesting to see different sides because i am writing a speech about caffeine but dont you guys have anything better to do than argue about if caffeine is or is not an addiction?
Caffeine is not addictive. The effects that happen to the body, because of caffeine, are the desired result.
I never did drugs because I like drugs. I did them because I liked their affect.
wow. that is some weird stuff