Energy Drinks Face A New Battle

Is there a link between energy drinks and cocaine?

Over the course of a five-year study, lead by Dr. Amelia Arria at the University of Maryland, researchers found people who regularly chugged those highly-caffeinated energy drinks were “significantly more likely to use cocaine,” according to a statement. The findings were published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 

High energy drink consumption was not only an indicator of future amphetamine and stimulant use. People who regularly drank energy drinks were also at a greater risk of alcohol abuse within five years. 

The study looked at a group of 1,099 young adults, between the ages of 21 and 25. 

The good news is that the researchers found that while most of the young adults slowed their consumption of energy drinks over the course of the five-year study – as they left college and joined the workforce -  more than half of the   participants fell into the group with a “persistent trajectory,” meaning that they still kept up a steady diet of energy drinks. 

That factor is what put them at increased risk for alcohol and drug use by age 25, but the researchers found no correlation between energy drink use and marijuana use.