Coffee has been around for centuries – but a new form of ingesting coffee is gaining popularity in certain circles and it’s extremely dangerous. Viral videos of teenagers smoking coffee are currently all the rage online, and there’s more than just palate abuse at stake. Concerned parents would do well to keep an eye on their children – especially teenaged children – and more importantly, moms and dads need to speak out directly to their kids against trying this harmful coffee fad.
Guides to smoking (or “vaping”) coffee are published online (like this guide featuring the photo above), and are widely available for teens to access freely from their home computers or school networks. Porkulent’s instructions are especially detailed:
The apparatus is cheap, the process is remarkably tolerant of variations in preparation, and the vaporization of the bean produces none of the characteristic bitterness of brewed coffee. It’s perfect.
What are some of the effects of smoking coffee?
- Breathing trouble
- Changes in alertness
- Confusion
- Convulsions
- Diarrhea
- Dizziness
- Fever
- Hallucinations
- Increased thirst
- Irregular heartbeat
- Muscle twitching
- Increased likelihood of outrageous behavior
- Rapid heartbeat
- Sleeping trouble
- Urination – increased
- Vomiting
Source: MedLine Plus
What should you do if you catch your teen smoking?
Cafe Mom provides some methods of dealing with your troubled teen if you catch them smoking. “Talk to your teen about the dangers,” is one such example. Or put your foot down and “just say no, then talk about the consequences.” Some (hippie) parents feel like it’s the child’s choice to make.
At any rate, keep an eye out for coffee smoking apparatuses around the house and above all, communicate with your children. Let them know that they don’t have to turn to coffee smoking to get their 30 minute pleasure trips.
