Marijuana was once considered the GATE WAY DRUG. The substance that by usage, could induce usage to others more harsh drugs. Even during the 80's and 90's this false thought had many using it to caution teenagers and children of preventive drug usage.
The truth is CAFFEINE is the GATE WAY DRUG and the fact that it is served to children as a soft drink on furthers the problem. REMEMBER the cola drink JOLT, which was removed from the market in 2002, because of it's caffeine content of 280mg for 23.5oz. In comparison here are the caffeine levels of other caffeinated drinks:
Soft drinks (12-ounce) | caffeine (mg) | Coffee and tea (8-ounce) | caffeine (mg) | |
Red Bull (8.2 oz) | 80.0 | Coffee, Drip | 115-175 | |
Jolt | 71.2 | Coffee, Brewed | 80-135 | |
Pepsi One | 55.5 | Coffee, Espresso (2 ounces) | 100 | |
Mountain Dew | 55.0 | Ben & Jerry's Coffee Fudge Frozen Yogurt(8oz) | 85 | |
Mountain Dew Code Red | 55.0 | Coffee, Instant | 65-100 | |
Diet Mountain Dew | 55.0 | Tea, iced | 47 | |
Kick Citrus | 54.0 | Tea, brewed, imported brands (avg.) | 60 | |
Mellow Yellow | 52.8 | Tea, brewed, U.S. brands (avg.) | 40 | |
Surge | 51.0 | Tea, instant | 30 | |
Tab | 46.8 | Tea, green | 15 | |
Diet Coke | 45.6 | Hot cocoa | 14 | |
Shasta Cola | 44.4 | Coffee, Decaf, brewed | 3-4 | |
Shasta Cherry Cola | 44.4 | Coffee, Decaf, instant | 2-3 | |
Shasta Diet Cola | 44.4 | Dark chocolate (1 oz) | 20 mg | |
RC Cola | 43.0 | |||
Diet RC | 43.0 | |||
Dr. Pepper | 41.0 | |||
Diet Dr. Pepper | 41.0 | |||
Diet Sunkist Orange | 41.0 | |||
Mr. Pibb | 40.0 | |||
Sugar-Free Mr. Pibb | 40.0 | |||
Red Flash | 40.0 | |||
Sunkist Orange | 40.0 | |||
Slim-Fast Cappuccino Delight Shake | 40.0 | |||
Ruby Red | 39.0 | |||
Storm | 38.0 | |||
Big Red | 38.0 | |||
Pepsi-Cola | 37.5 | |||
Pepsi Twist | 37.5 | |||
Diet Pepsi Jazz | 37.5 | |||
Diet Pepsi | 36.0 | |||
Wild Cherry Pepsi | 38.0 | |||
Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi | 36.0 | |||
Diet Pepsi Twist | 36.0 | |||
Aspen | 36.0 | |||
Coca-Cola Classic | 34.0 | |||
Cherry Coke | 34.0 | |||
Lemon Coke | 34.0 | |||
Vanilla Coke | 34.0 | |||
Diet Cherry Coke | 34.0 | |||
Snapple Flavored Teas (Reg. or Diet) | 31.5 | |||
Canada Dry Cola | 30.0 | |||
A&W Creme Soda | 29.0 | |||
Nestea Sweet Iced Tea | 26.5 | |||
Nestea Unsweetened Iced Tea | 26.0 | |||
Barq's Root Beer | 23.0 | |||
A&W Diet Creme Soda | 22.0 | |||
Slim-Fast Chocolate Flavors | 20.0 | |||
Snapple Sweet Tea | 12.0 | |||
Lipton Brisk, All Varieties | 9 | |||
Canada Dry Diet Cola | 1.2 | |||
Diet Rite Cola | 0 | |||
Sprite | 0 | |||
7-Up | 0 | |||
Mug Root Beer | 0 | |||
Diet Barq's Root Beer | 0 | |||
Sundrop Orange | 0 | |||
Minute Maid Orange | 0 | |||
A&W Root Beer | 0 | |||
Slice | 0 | |||
Sierra Mist | 0 | |||
Fresca | 0 |
SOURCES: National Soft Drink Association, US Food and Drug Administration, Bunker and McWilliams, Pepsi, Slim-Fast.http://www.math.utah.edu/~yplee/fun/caffeine.html