Coffee buffs prone to drug addictions

Need a cup of hot coffee to make a perfect beginning to your day? Beware, you are more likely to get hooked on drugs, claims a new study.
 
Although not everyone who enjoys caffeine would likely to abuse drugs, the researchers found that people who respond favourably to caffeine are vulnerable to the effects of drugs such as amphetamines and cocaine.
 
The finding, published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, is based on a study of a group people who were asked if they preferred caffeine to a placebo tablet.They were then given a type of amphetamine and asked to rate it. Most who liked the caffeine liked the drugs.
 
Study researcher Prof Stacey Sigmon of Vermont University in the US said: "People differ dramatically in how they respond to drugs."
 
"For example, a single dose of a drug can produce completely opposite effects in two people with one absolutely loving and the other hating the drug's effects," he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
 
"It is important to improve our understanding of these differences, as they may reflect key individual differences in vulnerability or resilience for drug abuse."
 
A person's response to the d-amphetamine also reveals how they would react of other commonly-abused drugs like cocaine as they have similar effects, the scientists said.
 
The study, according to them, is the first to demonstrate caffeine prospectively predicts the positive subjective effects of another drug.
 
"While these data do not mean that every coffee lover is at risk for proceeding to cocaine abuse this study does show individuals vary markedly in their subjective and behavioural response to psychomotor stimulants," Prof Sigmon added.



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