Will caffeine be a controlled substance in the future?

No reason why it would or should be. Caffeine is fine to use up to threshold of around 400 mg/day. For comparison a 12 can of regular Pepsi contains 38 mg. Energy drinks typically have a significantly higher caffeine content, and in addition often have additives, like taurine, which can have effects on the cardiovascular, muscular and nervous systems. Add in the fact that people who consume energy drinks tend to excessively consume them, much like soda drinkers do, and it’s not necessarily a good combo even for adults. That can be worse on adolescent and teen bodies, which are still developing. And to make matters worse, energy drink brands tend to advertise heavily towards sectors that have a high youth audience – such as videos games, concerts/music and sports events (especially “extreme” sports). Small wonder than some retailers, as a matter of policy, just won’t sell these products to customers under a certain age.

We’ve had several children who died after chugging energy drinks. One kid stopped by Starbucks to get a Grande whatever, then he chugged 2 energy drinks, & there was something else but I don’t remember what. Two hours later he had a heart attack & died…only 17 years old!!!

I’m addicted to Coca~Cola. I wish that I had NEVER tasted the first one. Now that I’m addicted to the caffeine & sugar, I hope they wait until the day after I die to enact legislation to make them both a controlled substance. I’d hate to go to jail for craving a glass of Coke!!!

I can’t imagine it would be.

@LadyMarissa You can quit Coke, I did, and I was a cocaholic. My mom used to give it to me in my bottle as a toddler as a treat. That was not every day, but by the time I was 10 I think I was drinking it daily. Coke with no ice, it had to be straight. I quit in my 30’s. I still LOVE it when I have it, but feel like crap as I withdraw again. To quit you need a good week to reduce intake. It takes a good month to not really miss it every day. Then you will be free of it.

^ NO…YOU can quit Coke. I’m like an alcoholic. I’ve quit so freakin many times & was doing what I thought was a good job at quitting., only to fall off the wagon & bust my ass!!! Maybe I’ll find te right combo for me to eventually quit; but, I’ve NOT found it so far!!!

@LadyMarissa: Try Caffeine Free Diet Coke. That’s my drink of choice.

@LadyMarissa LOL. I get it believe me. You obviously can do it is you really wanted to. If you want to be less addicted you could mix half caffeine free half regular and see how that goes.

I don’t think that it should be controlled, but it should be labelled. A can of Coke should say “100 ml per 8 0z”. An iced tea (on a menu) should say its value as well. Same for coffee.

The problem is that the libertarians any nanny-state people would have a fit.

I completely agree it should be clearly labeled.

@jca2 I have tired that & I go through withdrawal worse than going cold turkey. Thanks for the idea though.

I do see more and more soft drink manufacturers listing the caffeine content on the label. But yeah, those who do are doing so voluntarily. It’s not required.

After getting my D2 diagnosis it was hard to quit my sugared colas. I did it tho, for the most part. It wasn’t so much the caffeine for me, but the sugar. I tried many diet colas to see if i could find one that would work.

I really like Coke Zero. It’s very sweet and has caffeine.
I still do have a sugared pop here and there tho.

Is caffeine use and abuse causing problems for people? If there’s no harm then no need control it.

Given a general trend to not controlling substances at all, no one would expand the list. Cannabis is legal in a majority of US states, and a number of other countries. The UN just declared cannabis as less dangerous.

Why would anyone want to restrict things that are generally harmless?

Regarding sugar, a glass of Coke has the same amount of sugar as orange juice. I don’t see sugar ever being controlled. The closest we get is controlling what is offered in school lunches.