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this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024
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Unpopular Opinion
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What? As a neuroscientist: caffeine is not "technically a drug" it is a drug. And yes, people are absolutely addicted to it. That "craving" you're talking about is withdrawal and it's real. Doesn't matter if "billions*" drink it every day. It's no mental gymnastics to say that there are millions if not billions of coffee addicts. Addict is not a defined term in the psych/neuro field so I would argue that that many people who would go through withdrawal without it are all addicted.
Wtf does it matter what other drugs are out there? Not everything is a competition. Current dependence on caffeine in our society is absolutely a problem as a result of too much stress and work pressure on everyone. Caffeine is not a cure to that.
Tl;dr: Yes caffeine is objectively a drug and yes very many people are addicted to it.
*Citation needed
I mean y'all are both right, no? Caffeine is a drug but its addictive nature is nothing compared to other drugs.
The secondary point, as mentioned, is "who said anything about comparative addictiveness?" Is heroin not bad because it isn't as addictive as meth*? How is that relevant to the point that coffee can be addictive? Saying "claiming coffee is addictive just shows you've never been on hard narcotics" is at the level of an ad hominem, as if their point is invalidated by their sobriety.
*I have no idea the relative addictiveness of either (or really any drugs)