Psychoactive drugs at your local coffee shop!

Chevanon Photography. Person Performing Coffee Art; 2016.

Did you know that the most commonly used psychoactive drug worldwide... is caffeine?1 Caffeine is found in coffee, energy drinks, soda, and chocolate.2 It occurs naturally in the coffee plant, the tea bush, kola nuts, and cocoa beans, among other plants. Caffeine is toxic to many animals and insects, so it protects these plants from being eaten by predators.3 When humans ingest caffeine, it stimulates the central nervous system to release dopamine (aka the “feel good” hormone) and adrenaline.2,3 This is what keeps you alert and awake when you drink coffee.

In chemistry labs, caffeine can be extracted from plants as a white crystalline powder, after which it can be sold in its pure form as “energy tablets.”1 Typically, one of these tablets contains 100 mg of caffeine, which is approximately the same amount of caffeine in a cup of instant coffee.4 In moderate amounts, caffeine is non-toxic; you would have to drink 50 cups of coffee in rapid succession to ingest toxic levels of caffeine.2 But when caffeine is ingested in tablet form, it’s a lot easier to reach toxic doses. 

The lethal dose of caffeine in adults ranges between 5 g and 10 g depending on body weight.2 When toxic levels of caffeine are ingested, symptoms such as restlessness, tremors, insomnia, delirium, and even death can occur.5 Ingesting moderate amounts of caffeine habitually, such as in a daily coffee, does not lead to the same symptoms, though long-term use can decrease bone mineral density and increase blood sugar levels.1 Caffeine is addictive and withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, can occur when habitual use ceases.6

Because caffeine can affect your health with long-term use, some alternatives for maintaining wakefulness include staying hydrated with water and/or getting a good night’s rest. If those just won’t cut it and you can’t cope without coffee, then your local coffee shop will be happy to top you up!

References

1. Chaugule, A.; Patil, H.; Pagariya, S.; Ingle, P. Extraction of caffeine. IJARCS 2019, 6, 11-19. https://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2349-0403.0609002 (accessed February 7, 2021).

2. May, P.; Cotton, S. Molecules that amaze us [Online]; Taylor & Francis Group: 2014. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/mtroyal-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1566587 (accessed February 8, 2021).

3. Bottger, A.; Vothknecht, U.; Bolle, C.; Wolf, A. Lessons on caffeine, cannabis & co [Online]; Springer Nature: Switzerland, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99546-5 (accessed February 8, 2021).

4. CAMH. Caffeine. https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/caffeine (accessed February 7, 2021).

5. Caffeine. Encyclopedia of Toxicology [Online]; Academic Press, Posted April 14, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-386454-3.00703-X (accessed February 7, 2021).

6. University of Michigan Health Service. Caffeine Q & A. https://uhs.umich.edu/caffeine (accessed February 7, 2021).