Are the cola companies in some way responsible for the great increase in juvenile crime?
Is Caffeine the quiet enemy in a violent society?
A guy gets out of his car and punches someones lights out then gets back in his car and drives off.
Yes, it was a hot day and the traffic was quite heavy but what other factors might have been involved?
Ever since he was a kid, a very little kid, the guys diet has included a million litres each year of either coke or pepsie or some other brand of cola. As he grew he graduated onto coffee, coffee doubles were common. He never sleeps any more than a few hours at night and always... is he on edge. Always is he ready to punch those lights out, at a moments notice.
So what is Caffeine doing to the kids? Is it making them wild animals and beasts as they grow?
Are we more violent today, because of the great increase in Caffeine use, than we were several decades ago?
Mum and dad wouldnt let us kids get into tea or coffee until we were about 11 or 12 years old.
Are kids getting onto it early?
Are the major cola companies accountable for much of the great increase in juvenile crime?
Should cops test for Caffeine in order to bring the crime rate back under control?

Gibo, an interesting question. A brief browse of the web suggest that
the evidence for the impacts of caffeine on behaviour are still not well understood. Some summary work at

http://books.google.com/books?id=uZaaCk-8s9sC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=caffine+agressive+juvenile&source=web&ots=UZnpLjsPrq&sig=sJgh5nhNjWpiMb4OuVQbnmuA2y4

and http://books.google.com/books?id=uZaaCk-8s9sC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=caffine+agressive+juvenile&source=web&ots=UZnpLjsPrq&sig=sJgh5nhNjWpiMb4OuVQbnmuA2y4

Overall what I've seen on a brief skim seems to suggest that caffeine increases aggressive behaviour in male rats but may reduce aggressive behaviour in humans.

As for the impact of childhood usage I've not seen much yet. I try to stop my son using caffeine based drinks, I don't see them as a good thing for kids but I'm undecided on the aggressive factor.

R0bert

Thanks RObert. Handy references.
I drink coffee and occasionally ordinary tea. Madura makes a good 0.3% decaf. My problem is that the coffee goes down good (it is a happy juice) but about 6-10 hours later I can be edgy. I limit myself to generally about 2 or 3 in the morning. Then none after that time.
Everywhere I go I see school kids with coke in their hands and I wonder about the increase in assaults and how it might effect studies and sleep.
It sure has got to be an extremely aggressive society in the last two decades or so and there has to be another cause, it seems to me, other than an increase in the rat race.

I gave up coffee for a year to see if it would help with my insomnia. It didn't, though I still limit myself to a cup or less a day, and I'm not all that big on cola.

I don't think caffeine can really be blamed for much violence... it may contribute a miniscule amount to those who are already aggressive, but I think it would be exceptionally unlikely that it was the tipping point.

That being said, it's quite possibly a cause of hyperactivity in kids, and I wouldn't know whether it's a possible contributor to ADHD.

The fault, dear Cassius, lies not in our stars
But in ourselves.

Don't blame it on caffeine, blame it on sheer bad manners. We now tolerate the sort of rubbish in public behaviour that would have had juveniles flogged in my great-grandfather's time, as in Singapore today. It starts young, in schools, where teachers are no longer allowed to give stroppy young men of 14-18 the good thrashing they sometimes richly deserve. Manners can be taught in the home, but schools need to be alowed to back up the teaching with a good dose of fear if need be. Counselling delinquent juveniles is laughable. They grow up to be delinquent adults, if not rude ones.

It is an interesting ponderance Gibo.

I am inclined to think that caffeine is not a major factor in aggressive or antisocial behaviour. But I do think that alcohol is. I reckon it changes brain chemistry and tends to make people more depressed, angry, edgy, less tolerant, etc.

But the really big factor in juvenile crime, road-rage and so on is the chronic lack of effective policing.

The sort of mentality that leads to these law infringements has always been with us. It’s a fundamental part of human nature. A good portion of the populace will assert their sense of dominance or aggression, and will steal or assault if they think they can get away with it.

This is primaeval. Look at the way chimpanzees or other apes and monkeys behave….and all manner of other creatures down the evolutionary line.

We need to understand the nature of... well, human nature... and of animal nature.

We can't change it. So what we really need is a much more effective rule of law. And this necessitates a much more effective police force.