Caffeine in all forms has been normalized in academic and professional spaces, especially on college campuses. Despite being a stimulant drug, coffee is treated more like a staple than a substance with side effects. With coffee’s normalization in the modern-day workforce, the side effects caffeine provides are often overlooked. Workplaces tend to provide free coffee or sell it for cheap since it’s considered a necessity to work.
At the University of Oregon, there are so many places to purchase caffeine: every dining hall, corner market, Starbucks in the Erb Memorial Union and vending machines. From a casual meet-up drink to late-night cramming sessions, caffeine is there.
When you’re in line at a coffee stand, you can see the demographic: young, cool and more importantly, trendy. To coincide with the trendy persona, the drinks tend to be aesthetically pleasing with cute names, like “Lavender Oatmilk Latte” or the “Cocomo”. The closer you get to campus, the more options for caffeine you’re faced with a different stand in every building.
Yes, caffeine can help students stay awake to meet deadlines, but it also disrupts sleep cycles, increases anxiety and can make the exam you’re studying for feel notably more stressful. It’s a cycle of stimulation and exhaustion that’s rarely questioned because it’s so deeply embedded in campus culture.
For students like Alex Gross —- a product design major who experiences chronic insomnia — caffeine isn’t just a sweet treat; it’s a lifeline to succeed in the academic climate.
“Caffeine can make it harder to go to sleep, affecting my insomnia. Sometimes it feels like I need it. A lot of times when I drink it, it doesn’t help me feel less groggy, it doesn’t really help me get out of the negative headspace (and) it gives me more anxiety,” Gross said.
When asked if caffeine is overused or normalized on campus, Gross stated, “Yeah, definitely, a lot of people use it as a coping mechanism for stress, with stress turning into a need for more coffee.”
The reason why it’s so accessible is that it’s turned into something greater than a quick pick-me-up. This drug has been branded as an accessory –– a trendy drink to bring class and a conversation starter to talk about the latest seasonal drink and which flavors to try.
When asking English major Henry Beck if they felt a sense of pressure to drink caffeine on campus, Beck said, “Yeah, but I’d associate more with the general concept of the college student. The image of late-night studying with caffeine lingers in my mind and seems to be the model. I would not be surprised if its abundance on campus plays a part, though.”
According to College Students and Coffee: 13 Statistics to Know in 2025 | Corner Coffee Store, 92% of students consume caffeine. If nearly all college students need caffeine to get through the day, it’s no longer a personal choice –– it’s a part of the culture. As you can imagine, with only 8% of students not drinking caffeine, it was hard to find a student who used alternative methods.
If we strip away the branding, caffeine is a psychoactive substance that alters mood, cognition and physical performance. Yet unlike other stimulants, it’s rarely framed as a drug. Why? Because it’s legal, profitable and socially useful. It keeps workers alert, students engaged and best yet, it is a billion-dollar industry.
Caffeine gets a free pass because it’s seen as normal. It fits into what society wants: faster results. But drugs that do similar things are treated like a threat. So really, what counts as a “bad” drug isn’t about science, it’s about productivity. Substances are judged not just by their effects, but by who uses them and how they fit into the system. If a drug boosts productivity and profits, it’s praised.
But this raises a larger question: how do we decide which drugs are acceptable and which are stigmatized? And who benefits from those distinctions?
Consuming caffeine day in and day out like clockwork can cause withdrawal just like any other drug. When your body misses its usual dose, you feel the symptoms through headaches, fatigue, irritability or anxiety. If our workforce relies on this single drug to get people up, moving and working — what does that say about our social environment when the most socially acceptable drug is the one that keeps us working?
