# What if coffee was like other illegal "drugs"



## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

After that strange chap posted complaining about having to post before being able to view links he suggested a site setup like Reddit. I went over there for a look and found this. It made me chuckle so I thought I'd blatantly rip it off and post it here


















I like the bit about 99.9% of other abusers have tried coffee first.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Death is indeed a risk with coffee, ie caffeine does have a theoretical fatal toxic dose...unlike THC one of the active ingredients in Cannabis!

Kerrigan S, Lindsey T (October 2005). "Fatal caffeine overdose: two case reports". Forensic Sci. Int. 153 (1): 67-9. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2005.04.016. PMID 15935584.

Holmgren P, Nordén-Pettersson L, Ahlner J (2004). "Caffeine fatalities-four case reports". Forensic Science International 139 (1): 71-3. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2003.09.019.

VERSUS ''These doses would be comparable to a 154-pound human smoking at one time almost three pounds (1.28 kg) of 1%-marihuana or 250,000 times the usual smoked dose and over a million times the minimal effective dose ''

Ban it now!

Erm actually please dont


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

Haha! I'm sure we'd find ways to "acquire" it still if it were ever made illegal.

It just goes to show what arbitrary rules made by governments do to public perceptions of "drugs"


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## mike 100 (Jul 15, 2010)

Now thats what I want on coasters etc!-- Well found

P.S I think the strange chap has apologized now!


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

Yeah it was in his apology post that I found the link to this. Maybe I should say that I don't think he's strange per se but his post was a bit strange for a first post


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

I love that you can drink 5-6 double espressos and be convinced time is slowing down and that also everything is great, only minutes later to be an absolute total wreck craving nothing but the end.

Definitely my drug of choice.


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

Haha! I don't think I've ever had that many doubles in a day let alone one sitting.


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Its probably worth doing once just for the experience but I wouldn't really recommend it.


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

garydyke1 said:


> Death is indeed a risk with coffee, ie caffeine does have a theoretical fatal toxic dose...unlike THC one of the active ingredients in Cannabis!
> 
> Kerrigan S, Lindsey T (October 2005). "Fatal caffeine overdose: two case reports". Forensic Sci. Int. 153 (1): 67-9. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2005.04.016. PMID 15935584.
> 
> Holmgren P, Nordén-Pettersson L, Ahlner J (2004). "Caffeine fatalities-four case reports". Forensic Science International 139 (1): 71-3. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2003.09.019.


What is that limit Gary? Would you pop before you drank enough?


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## Monkey_Devil (Jul 11, 2011)

I envision meeting Steve Leighton under a murky bridge wearing hoodies and using some bizarre slang.


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## cjbailey1 (Jan 17, 2011)

Monkey_Devil said:


> I envision meeting Steve Leighton under a murky bridge wearing hoodies and using some bizarre slang.


He's currently training for his escape on foot...


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

chimpsinties said:


> What is that limit Gary? Would you pop before you drank enough?


http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine

You'd kick the bucket after 137.39 shots of Espresso. (3.4 litres)


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## cjbailey1 (Jan 17, 2011)

I find it odd, I enjoy drinking coffee but I have no noticeable side effects. I can start and stop drinking it as I wish, no headaches etc. I can drink it at any time of day - infact the warmth of the drink makes me sleepy if I drink lots of it! I'm obviously just weird... (be nice now - you aren't meant to agree with that statement!!!).


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## mike 100 (Jul 15, 2010)

Have a look at http://www.coffeefaq.com it gives you all the symptoms of OD etc.Remember its not only the coffee thats addictive its all the other bits as well!

Mahlkonig Vario.... mmmmm Reg Barber tamper mmmmm etc etc


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## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

You know, apart from death, I've experienced all of those side effects, and regularly too! Death next on my list maybe! At least I'll go happy.

As an aside, I've managed to pretty much reduce my alcohol intake, I used to smoke 40 a day for 20 years and gave that up but I can't go through the day without espressos. Huh!


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## JamesG (Mar 29, 2012)

garydyke1 said:


> http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine
> 
> You'd kick the bucket after 137.39 shots of Espresso. (3.4 litres)


Is that in one go? If you drank that amount I'm sure you'd be suffering from water intoxication never mind the caffeine.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Maybe, but drinking that much fluid is at least theoretically possible - caffeine absorption is pretty rapid .

I wont be trying it, lol


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Fear not, why would the government ban coffee when they could simply hit drinkers with a hefty "well, it's for your own good.." tax instead. Y'know, like they do with other "dangerous" substances, like alcohol, ****.......& pasties...!:-o


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## FDC (Jan 7, 2012)

Reminds me of conversation I had at work one day when 'the roaster' called me to give me first refusal of a bean I had previously ordered. All colleagues could hear was me saying things like 'when does the shipment arrive' 'is it good stuff' 'I'll take 1 kilo'. Yeh, I was keeping it real that day!


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## Monkey_Devil (Jul 11, 2011)

Lightweight:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/6944026.stm


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

A friend of mine overdosed actually.

He worked in a restaurant where they could help themselves to espressos.

Think he had 9 or more in a hour.

He lost feeling in his legs and had a small seizure.

I wouldn't aim for that state but certainly one of the euphoric states before that would be advised.


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## Monkey_Devil (Jul 11, 2011)

I suppose it would be very easy to do if you're working in that environment. I do wonder what they do to avoid such problems at competitive events like the ukbc. Must get wired if you're a judge


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## wastedhours (Jan 2, 2012)

Must be like food tasters who see a plate of amazingly prepared deliciousness, take one bite, then move on!


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## 20Eyes (Mar 16, 2011)

I'd never really taken caffeine overly seriously as a drug until I witnessed the effect it has on a good friend of mine.

He doesn't actually like coffee and, at 29 years old, reckons he's had about 6 cups in his whole life. I suggested he should try some real coffee (rather than instant!) to see what he thought of it. Anyway, I made him a large mug of Indonesian Gajah Aceh via the French Press at my usual dose (24g/14floz).

He drank the lot, said it was 'OK' (a good sign in so much as he didn't dislike it) but then proceeded to get VERY jittery, anxious and generally 'wired'. This was about 5pm. He sent me a text at 3am the following morning saying he hadn't been to sleep and still felt completely on edge.

I'm guessing he must have a tolerance issue with caffeine, but still.


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

If you don't consume any caffeine at all and suddenly drink a big mug of freshly brewed joe at 5pm I'm pretty sure it'll keep even seasoned drinkers up past midnight. A guy at my work makes rocket fuel in a cafetiere and it even makes me jittery. I'd say your mate had a pretty normal reaction









Although saying that I know 2 people who do have proper intolerance. One goes totally crazy and bouncing off the walls until crashing with crippling head aches. She can't even drink tea or have normal full fat coke. Another friend of mine falls asleep about 20 mins after drinking any caffeine. It has almost the exact opposite effect that it does on most people.


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## 20Eyes (Mar 16, 2011)

chimpsinties said:


> I'd say your mate had a pretty normal reaction


Yeah, you may well be right. It's just that the friends I have who do drink decent coffee never really have that issue at that end of the day, it's usually more a case of 'not feeling right' (or even downright irritable) if they've not had a good coffee pretty much as soon as they wake up.

I suppose it's a question of perspective. I thought my friend's episode was an eye-opener but then never really stop to think that I actually go to bed excited at the prospect of the morning's coffee when I receive a bean delivery that day. I guess that's as much a sign of addiction as any effect of actually drinking the stuff.


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## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

20Eyes said:


> I actually go to bed excited at the prospect of the morning's coffee


So I'm not the only one who does this. Eeek!


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## lucky13 (Dec 30, 2011)

Most drug addicts are apparently very methodical and almost OCD in the preperation of their chosen drug.

That already explains over 50% of the posts on this forum... and probably the forum its self


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## Jugglestruck (Nov 17, 2011)

If coffee was an illegal drug, just say Yo.


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