Caffeine at work
Discussion
First posting in the lounge, not sure if this is the right section so sorry if not..
I was pondering today about the use of caffeine, which as we all know is a stimulant drug. It is perfectly legal, it is part of most people's daily lives and is almost habitually taken. Nice cup of tea, can of coke with lunch, coffee is a huge industry and energy drinks are stacked with the stuff.
Now I don't drink a lot of coffee at all, never drink tea or coke and find that Red Bull tastes like petrol. And I have compared the two. So maybe caffeine affects me more than others because I haven't built up a tolerance.
I work in a 'safety critical' role, driving Thomas and Henry, and as such have a very strict alcohol and drugs policy which amounts to less then half the drink drive limits and zero tolerance on drugs, including many off the shelf medicines. I cannot use a mobile at work, read a paper listen to a radio or anything like that, and rightly so.
It is however widely accepted that it is absolutely fine to drink as much coffee as you like, whenever you like, including when driving. Apart from the obvious(?) dangers of spilling hot liquid on your nuts and the ensuing distraction that would undoubtedly cause (and I have seen this happen, and I did laugh ever so much!) there is also the fact that somebody is operating machinery, being responsible for potentially hundreds of lives whilst technically being under the influence of a stimulant drug. This does of course apply in many other industries, and there are loads with similar or more restrictive D and A policies than mine.
Now I'm not saying that a cup of coffee is equivalent to a bomb of speed, but the effects really are rather similar, especially after a few cups. A lot of cheap speed will possibly be predominately caffeine powder, so I hear. I would get sacked and prosecuted if I went into work with even a tiny little trace of amphetamines in my system, but I can drink 15 espressos in front of my manager and drive 500 people to London whilst twitching, sweating and having the attention span of a flea perfectly legally.
What are other peoples thoughts on this matter?
And just for the record, I am not high on coffee, petrol or any other tasty liquid before you start!
I was pondering today about the use of caffeine, which as we all know is a stimulant drug. It is perfectly legal, it is part of most people's daily lives and is almost habitually taken. Nice cup of tea, can of coke with lunch, coffee is a huge industry and energy drinks are stacked with the stuff.
Now I don't drink a lot of coffee at all, never drink tea or coke and find that Red Bull tastes like petrol. And I have compared the two. So maybe caffeine affects me more than others because I haven't built up a tolerance.
I work in a 'safety critical' role, driving Thomas and Henry, and as such have a very strict alcohol and drugs policy which amounts to less then half the drink drive limits and zero tolerance on drugs, including many off the shelf medicines. I cannot use a mobile at work, read a paper listen to a radio or anything like that, and rightly so.
It is however widely accepted that it is absolutely fine to drink as much coffee as you like, whenever you like, including when driving. Apart from the obvious(?) dangers of spilling hot liquid on your nuts and the ensuing distraction that would undoubtedly cause (and I have seen this happen, and I did laugh ever so much!) there is also the fact that somebody is operating machinery, being responsible for potentially hundreds of lives whilst technically being under the influence of a stimulant drug. This does of course apply in many other industries, and there are loads with similar or more restrictive D and A policies than mine.
Now I'm not saying that a cup of coffee is equivalent to a bomb of speed, but the effects really are rather similar, especially after a few cups. A lot of cheap speed will possibly be predominately caffeine powder, so I hear. I would get sacked and prosecuted if I went into work with even a tiny little trace of amphetamines in my system, but I can drink 15 espressos in front of my manager and drive 500 people to London whilst twitching, sweating and having the attention span of a flea perfectly legally.
What are other peoples thoughts on this matter?
And just for the record, I am not high on coffee, petrol or any other tasty liquid before you start!
I drink a couple of cups of coffee (real coffee, not instant) most mornings. It feeds my caffeine addiction and makes me feel better about the day. However, if I have too much or have afternoon coffee I don't go hyper, just feel really nauseous.
As an aside, part of my build up to running races is a couple of ProPlus an hour before the race. Definitely helps in the longer events and the limit for drug testing is very high, so no concerns there.
As an aside, part of my build up to running races is a couple of ProPlus an hour before the race. Definitely helps in the longer events and the limit for drug testing is very high, so no concerns there.
Silent1 said:
Tobacco is another, if it was discovered now it would be a Class A
alcohol probably wouldn't be looked on too favourably either.with regards to caffiene i never drink tea and can't stand coffee however one of these before the gym is great
http://www.myprotein.co.uk/products/caffeine_pro
calibrax said:
Caffeine will help stop someone from falling asleep, and also improve their reaction times. Two things I would definitely want in a driver! So it's not all bad.
The latest tests show that if you are a regular user of caffeine it simply brings your reaction times etc up to a normal operating level.Only if you do not regularly use caffeine is it supposed to generate any improvements. They did a series of experiments a while back, scanning the brain for activity of caffeine users before and after caffeine intake and non caffeine users.
Continued use just f**ks up the metabolic cycle AFAIK. The stimulant wears off, so you feel tired, so you use more, but then feel tired again.....
Mind you, the results of the latest tests will probably get completely over written when they run the next set of tests.....
T40ORA said:
calibrax said:
Caffeine will help stop someone from falling asleep, and also improve their reaction times. Two things I would definitely want in a driver! So it's not all bad.
The latest tests show that if you are a regular user of caffeine it simply brings your reaction times etc up to a normal operating level.Edited by calibrax on Wednesday 9th June 19:30
calibrax said:
T40ORA said:
calibrax said:
Caffeine will help stop someone from falling asleep, and also improve their reaction times. Two things I would definitely want in a driver! So it's not all bad.
The latest tests show that if you are a regular user of caffeine it simply brings your reaction times etc up to a normal operating level.Edited by calibrax on Wednesday 9th June 19:30
I think the point is that there is an expectation about coffee being acceptable whereas alcohol at work obviously is not.
I'm not aware of any accidents being 'commited' whilst under the influence of caffeine, although apparently there have been a couple of cases of suicide by caffeine (tablets).
T40ORA said:
I'm not aware of any accidents being 'commited' whilst under the influence of caffeine, although apparently there have been a couple of cases of suicide by caffeine (tablets).
True. But then perhaps there have been a whole load of accidents where caffeine has contributed; but as it's not something they would routinely test for, it's never come up as an issue.I think the effects of caffeine are underestimated in general, probably because most of us have a certain dependency on it... in the same way as a heroin addict would probably find methadone to be "quite mild"!
Edited by calibrax on Thursday 10th June 09:08
Summertime said:
Oops i drink up-to 20 cups of coffee per day even more when i am out on the motorbike should i cut down a bit ?
Until they change their minds it might be a good idea.....http://www.buzzle.com/articles/caffeine-side-effec...
But caffeine cold turkey is f**king hell
I'm addicted.
Now the first part of solving the problem is admitting you have a problem (apparently). If I don't have some coke (Coca Cola, not Columbian marching powder) every few hours I become lethargic and my attention wanders, if I still don't have a coke I get a bad headache and during this time I am of no use at work. I need caffeine now purely to function.
I did try quitting but I was irritable and Mrs darren9 told me to get back on it because I was "a nightmare to live with"
Now the first part of solving the problem is admitting you have a problem (apparently). If I don't have some coke (Coca Cola, not Columbian marching powder) every few hours I become lethargic and my attention wanders, if I still don't have a coke I get a bad headache and during this time I am of no use at work. I need caffeine now purely to function.
I did try quitting but I was irritable and Mrs darren9 told me to get back on it because I was "a nightmare to live with"
Silent1 said:
ROFL caffeine addiction.
Did you also used to get addicted to sniffing tip-ex?
Oh, how they mock Did you also used to get addicted to sniffing tip-ex?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/01...
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