Most of us who drink coffee or tea are in the same boat. We do it every day, sometimes multiple times a day. There is withdrawal. There is tolerance. The half-life is so long that even if we stop in the morning, we are spending the majority of the day high.
Just to add a little more complexity to the equation. Note that there is a weird level of approval for some substances ( coffee, uppers, whatever NY brokers and med students use ), because they help some corporate goals, while those that do not increase bottom line and are even detrimental to it ( alchohol, pot and so on ) are frowned upon, because they lead to downtime.
And if you pay attention to how you actually respond to caffeine, it actually has a HUGE effect on your state of mind and how you react to things. Not always in a bad way, but it easily can affect you as much as weed.
Hearing a friend describe how he reacted to caffeine made me realize that some people have wildly different responses than I do.
Caffeine doesn't make me feel particularly great, and I feel almost no compulsion to have more than one cup, but it made him feel amazing, and he felt compelled to drink more.
I can stop drinking coffee for a week without any annoyance, but if he tries to pull back or stop drinking caffeine, he experiences 2 weeks of crippling headaches.
My takeaway: work your way into any drugs tentatively, and don't listen to people who tell you how much "everyone" responds to it.
For me, caffeine induces a wonderful sense of euphoria (as well as increased energy, increased focus, increased ability to sleep soundly, and decreased appetite), yet I simultaneously feel no impulse to consume it and usually don't.
I have to actively remind myself to consume my caffeine when I really need the boost in focus. The euphoria is a pleasing side effect, but not something I think about when I'm not experiencing it. It's common for me to go weeks at a time without having any, just because I didn't think to.
I think there could be a genetic factor here. Addiction (to alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, etc.) seems to be fully absent in my family history.
I have an espresso superautomatic, beer in my fridge, and prescribed stimulants, and I often go months without partaking in any of that because it has to be a conscious decision and sometimes it never crosses my mind. I'm uncomfortable leaving my baseline.
It's like wearing fancy clothes. It's enjoyable for a few hours, but I wouldn't want to wear them frequently.
After going off caffeine for a day or two, drinking a strong cup of coffee or tea on an empty stomach will give me a fair bit of a buzz, to the extent that it feels like my head is floating. Two cups and work can become difficult and I can't sit still. If I drink three cups by mid-afternoon, I begin to feel anxious and slightly paranoid, as if I'm forgetting something important. It also impairs my sleep.
If you're a habitual user, you may not even realize how it effects you, and you'll need more dosage to get effects.
I'm a very long way from the folks on r/decaf, most of whom I think need some serious help, but it's much more impactful than you may realize.
