How come caffeine is legal but cocaine is not?

Question

too much coffee makes you feel energetic and euphoric just like cocaine but why is one legal and the other is not?

Answer 1

Good question, as caffene can be addicted to & its in pop/ coffeee, & you get anxious to much & go out & do bad things,

Answer 2

well.... along with the addictive properties of Cocaine, the "therapeutic Index" or distance between the amount of drug to give you its "therapeutic/medicinal" effects and its LD50 which is how much of the drug will kill you, is MUCH MUCH MUCH closer than that of caffeine. Also if you analyze the molecular pathway in which cocaine acts on vs. caffeine you would find that cocaine is very specific for certain receptors (actually dopamine transporters) in the brainstem and mid brain... which is usually recipe for overdose if abused, especially with drugs that are habbit forming.

So, although caffeine is addictive, their have been 20 + year long studies that have shown little to no adverse effects from caffeine, it has not been linked to overdoses by itself (surely if you are doing cocaine and coffee together you may bring yourself closer to that OD threshold) and metabolically not as toxic as cocaine (in terms of liver toxicity). Along with a slew of other proof out there to distinctify caffeine from cocaine and why cocaine should be illegal.

Case in point i dont know to many people who would sell their mother for a cup of coffee, but i think i can find a crack addict or two who would consider it.

Answer 3

Cocaine:
Since cocaine is a highly addictive drug, it can lead to major medical complications and health problems. Some of the these complications include heart disease, heart attacks, respiratory failure, strokes, seizures, and gastrointestinal problems. Other physical symptoms include convulsions, nausea, blurred vision, chest pain, fever, muscle spasms, and coma.
Caffeine:
a bitter substance found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate, some nuts and certain medicines. It has many effects on the body's metabolism, including stimulating the central nervous system. This can make you more alert and give you a boost of energy. Caffeine lengthens the time it takes to fall asleep, reducing your total sleeping time. But almost unique among drugs, it doesn't alter the normal stages of sleep.

Answer 4

The main reason is that cocaine has other bad effects on the body. Cocaine hurts the body in many ways. Caffeine just makes you more energetic.

Answer 5

Caffene is habit forming but not strongly addictive. If you quit taking in any caffene, you will get a caffene headache that is a nuisance, but will not become really awful.
Cocaine is addictive. If you take it for a while and quit, you will suffer withdrawal and your body will have a variety of physical reactions including shaking and nausea.

Answer 6

One of them damages your brain cells, the other doesn't. Which one do you think does the damage? ;)