America’s favorite drug

It’s midterm time in Bloomington again.

It is a time for stress, hair pulling and realizing you just aren’t good enough. Midterms have officially become the bane of my existence.

In the mess of forgotten notes and skipped readings that become my life during midterms, my coffee addiction is pretty much the only thing that keeps me sane.

As a service to all the help it has given me, I’d like to educate you all on my favorite little psychoactive drug.

Developed by the Coffea plant, the caffeine found in coffee was originally evolved as an insecticide.

Lethal to tiny bugs, caffeine was found to have profound benefits to humans by early Middle Easterners.

Appearing in the Middle East during the 15th century, the stimulant made its way to European popularity at the time of the Enlightenment.

It remains to this day as the second most traded commodity in the world after oil.

As a citizen of one of the biggest coffee consuming countries, I have a pretty strong coffee habit.

With my 4-5 cups every morning, I’m doing my level best to contribute to the $4 billion of coffee that America imports every year.

And it’s not surprising Americans are so taken with coffee.

The caffeine in coffee affects dopamine production in the human brain similarly to cocaine and amphetamines, making coffee America’s favorite and most used psychoactive drug.

But why shouldn’t we partake in this wonder drug?  Coffee increases concentration, it’s marginally cheap, as long as you stay away from whatever slog Starbucks is trying to pass off as coffee these days, and it’s been proven to have no major health effects on the average human.

In fact, studies have shown that caffeine withdrawal is perhaps the worst side effect of the drug, making quitting coffee the worst part about coffee.

With all this evidence behind it, I’m only surprised that coffee isn’t more popular than it already is.

It makes us smarter, faster and more focused without major health complications to the average person.

So drink on, my fellow drug addicts, and keep reaping the benefits of this amazing brew.

­— kevsjack@indiana.edu