When you reach for that extra caffeine boost, you might think you’re just getting a jitter, but sometimes the buzz can turn deadly. In this rundown of 10 times caffeine has claimed lives, we explore shocking cases where the stimulant went from pick‑me‑up to fatal overdose.

Why 10 Times Caffeine Can Be Lethal

10 Latte, Mountain Dew, Energy Drink

A 16‑year‑old South Carolina teen named Davis Cripe was the picture of a typical high‑school kid—healthy, happy, a budding drummer who kept out of trouble.

During lunch, he slipped out of school, hopped in his car, and drove to a fast‑food joint where he ordered a café latte, washed it down with a Mountain Dew, and gulped an energy drink before heading to his art class.

The caffeine overload spiked his heart rate so dramatically that he suffered a cardiac arrest right in the classroom. Though a teacher called 911, the damage was already irreversible. An FDA spokesperson later confirmed that the sheer volume of caffeine in such a short span can be fatal even for those without pre‑existing heart conditions.

9 Hour Energy

People seeking a calorie‑free pick‑me‑up often turn to tiny energy shots, assuming they’re harmless because of their size. In reality, those petite bottles pack a punch that many underestimate.

Between 2009 and 2012, 5‑Hour Energy drinks were linked to 13 deaths and 33 hospitalizations. Dr. Sean Patrick Nord of USC likened consuming several shots in a short period to drinking 30–40 cups of coffee.

The manufacturer, however, dismissed these reports as mere “claims” and refused to alter the formula. Founder Manoj Bhargava likened excessive consumption to drowning in water, warning users to follow the directions precisely.

8 FCKD UP And Four Loko

Mixing caffeine with alcohol in drinks like Four Loko created a dangerous cocktail that sent several young adults into reckless behavior—and, in some cases, death. The high alcohol content paired with caffeine made the intoxication set in faster and more intensely.

Even someone with a high tolerance could become dangerously impaired after just one Four Loko. At a 2010 college party, 20‑year‑old Jason Keiran consumed three cans—equivalent to 18 light beers and several cups of coffee—resulting in a manic episode that ended tragically when he took his own life.

Following the incident, the FDA investigated Four Loko, prompting Phusion Projects to strip caffeine from the beverage.

Meanwhile, Canadian brand FCKD UP seemed to ignore the warning. In 2018, 14‑year‑old Athena Gervais drank the drink at a woodland party, behaved erratically, and vanished, later found dead in a stream. Her family sued, and the manufacturer halted production.

7 No Doze

In 2007, 19‑year‑old James Stone was determined to land a job and turned to No‑Doz tablets to stay awake while flooding the internet with applications.

Believing the pills were equivalent to a single cup of coffee, he ignored the lack of dosage warnings and consumed 25–30 tablets in a short burst. Shortly after, he felt unwell, rose to use the bathroom, and collapsed from a heart attack.

Novartis, the maker of No‑Doz, claimed Stone’s death was an isolated incident, emphasizing the product’s FDA approval. Further investigation revealed a prior death in 1998 when a young adult consumed an entire bottle of No‑Doz on a dare.

6 Monster Energy

Monster Energy’s marketing, featuring extreme‑sport athletes, encourages teens to pair the drink with intense physical activity—a risky combination given caffeine’s heart‑rate‑raising effects.

In 2015, 19‑year‑old Dustin Hood downed three and a half cans of Monster within 24 hours, then played a basketball game. The blend of caffeine and exertion triggered a cardiac arrhythmia, causing him to collapse on the court and later die in hospital.

The brand has faced multiple lawsuits: a 2012 case involving a 14‑year‑old who died after drinking only two cans, and a class‑action suit accusing Monster of classifying its drinks as dietary supplements to avoid ingredient disclosure.

5 Coffee Cancer Risk

Defenders of coffee often argue it’s safer than energy drinks, but the reality is more complex. A single 12‑ounce Starbucks “tall” cup contains as much caffeine as three Red Bull cans, and the chain offers sizes up to 31 ounces (trenta).

In March 2018, a California court ruled that acrylamide—a chemical formed when coffee beans are roasted—poses a cancer risk. The Council for Education and Research on Toxics sued to force warning labels on coffee cups at retailers like Starbucks.

Coffee companies continue to fight the ruling, fearing the impact on sales, while experts remain divided over the decision’s scientific merit.

4 An Experiment Gone Awry

Northumbria University researchers wanted to discover the caffeine threshold athletes could endure while exercising, so they administered a powder dose equal to 300 cups of coffee to two sports‑science majors.

Both subjects began their workouts hooked to heart monitors. Unsurprisingly, they displayed severe overdose symptoms, prompting immediate hospitalization.

One student, Luke Parkin, recovered fully, but his partner Alex Rossetta suffered brain damage and now lives with short‑term memory loss. The university issued a formal apology and was fined £400,000 for the reckless trial.

3 Mystery Energy Drink

A 28‑year‑old amateur motocross racer consumed seven to eight cans of an unnamed energy drink before a race in 2007. He performed well initially, but after his second race he felt a dull chest ache.

Mistaking the pain for something minor, he kept racing until he collapsed. Hospital doctors found no other cause for his cardiac arrest; the excessive caffeine was the likely culprit.

Although he survived, the incident illustrates how easy it is to overlook warning signs of a caffeine‑induced heart attack, especially when you feel invincible.

2 Bullet Energy Drink

Bullet, a cheap energy drink popular in several African nations, entered the headlines when 2014‑year‑old Elijah Nwankwo accepted a $100 bet to gulp eight cans in one sitting.

After downing the drinks, he slipped into a coma. Friends rushed him to the hospital, but the damage was irreversible; he died, losing both the wager and his life.

Bullet’s low profile means there’s scant public information about its caffeine content, and the company, like many others, pays athletes to showcase the product, encouraging risky multi‑pack consumption.

1 Unnamed Man In Japan

In 2015, a man in his twenties working a 24‑hour shift at a Japanese gas station needed to stay alert for both his night and day shifts. He resorted to drinking a large amount of caffeinated beverages to power through.

After the marathon caffeine binge, he suffered a fatal overdose—the first recorded caffeine‑related death in Japan. Autopsy results shocked local medical researchers, who had previously believed such a death was impossible.

The incident prompted at least one Japanese energy‑drink company to issue a voluntary warning against excessive consumption and mixing caffeine with alcohol.

Shannon Quinn, a writer from Philadelphia, reported the story; you can find her work on her personal website or follow her on Twitter.

If you asked people what the world’s most popular drug is, what would the most common answer be? Many people will say marijuana, or cannabis if they’re pretentious potheads. There will be some people that get closer by saying tobacco or alcohol. Probably fewer than say weed, because when most of us hear the word drug we think of illegal drugs. However, none of these are correct. The right answer: caffeine. We don’t think of drinking coffee as doing drugs, but that’s what it is. So read on to find out more about the only recreational drug that your parents will encourage you to take with that Starbucks gift card they send you at Christmas.

10. It Makes You Feel Good

The main reason that people take drugs is because they make the user feel good. Drugs can make us feel so good that they’re dangerous. Some people are willing to take them despite the side effects and risks. The lows and highs for coffee aren’t quite as extreme as heroin, but as you’ll see they do exist. Let’s start with the high.

Caffeine consumption stimulates the release of the chemical dopamine, which leads to euphoria. Other drugs that rely on dopamine include cocaine and ecstasy. Recent research has shown that caffeine also acts on the same neurotransmitters that marijuana does. So, that buzz you feel when you have your first cup of joe in the morning is caused by chemicals being released in your brain’s reward system. In addition to the rise in productivity, this is another one of the positive effects of caffeine consumption.

9. It Can Have Side Effects

Like most things in life, caffeine can have some nasty side effects, especially if consumed to excess. Most of us know that it can cause insomnia, nervousness, and anxiety. However, there are other negative possibilities as well. These are much more rare, but they do occur. In some people, caffeine may cause stomach problems, nausea, vomiting, headaches, chest pains, and increased heart rate.

There are also some people who should take extra caution. It can sometimes make anxiety disorders or bipolar disorder worse. It’s also probably good to avoid it if you are pregnant or if you are a child. It also can make certain problems worse, like glaucoma, epilepsy, and high blood pressure. If you have something like that that impacts your life, make sure you talk to your doctor, or more realistically, look it up online. Again, these effects are rare but it’s good to at least keep them in mind.

8. You Build Up a Tolerance

Has this ever happened to you? You do something fun you’ve never done before, and the first time you do it it’s incredibly intense and memorable. The next time you do it, it’s still really, really good, but maybe not quite as intense. But you still really like it, so you do it a lot. And after a while, it’s still kind of fun but it’s not the same. You enjoy it, but not as much. You just built up a tolerance.

That’s what happens when you consume a substance often. And this happens with caffeine as well as with other drugs. In one study, subjects became desensitized to the effects of caffeine in the first four days of consumption. This tolerance building is why you tend to need more over time in order to feel the same effects. The best way to keep your tolerance low is to keep your consumption levels low. And if you feel you’re drinking too much, you can always take a few days off. But, that might be hard because…

7. It Can Cause Withdrawal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0HaQmahq4o

When someone tries to quit taking a hard drug, let’s say heroin, there are often withdrawal symptoms. Part of the reason it’s hard to quit is because the drug makes us feel good, but another reason is because stopping feels so bad. This is the case with caffeine for many people.

Attempting to stop consuming caffeine can lead to withdrawal symptoms. Caffeine use releases adrenaline, which causes an energy boost. But this energy boost wears out eventually, and many people decide that means it’s time for more caffeine. But overconsumption can wear down your adrenal gland, making you dependent on the adrenaline boost provided by caffeine. This leads to withdrawal symptoms ranging from headache to constipation to depression. Luckily, these are usually milder than the withdrawals experienced by heroin addicts and will usually go away within a week or so. Whew!

6. You Can Overdose On It

Most things should be enjoyed in moderation, if at all. Caffeine has tons of health benefits, but too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing. According to the Mayo Clinic, up to 400 mg of caffeine per day is safe in healthy adults. But, this amount differs based on your age, weight, and sex. Caffeine overdose usually only leads to unpleasant symptoms that go away once the caffeine is flushed out of your body. So, most of the time, it’s not that bad.

Milder symptoms include dizziness, diarrhea, and fever. But you should go to the doctor if you experience trouble breathing, vomiting, or convulsions. It’s probably best you go to the doctor after that whether you drank any caffeine or not. To avoid all this, keep your daily caffeine level below 400 mg, and even less if you aren’t used to it or are a particularly small person.

5. It Can Kill You

As we said earlier, caffeine overdose usually only leads to mildly unpleasant symptoms. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. In extremely rare cases, it can actually help kill you. Again, this can only happen if large amounts are consumed in a small amount of time. Back in April, a teen in South Carolina died after drinking a McDonald’s latte, a large Mountain Dew, and an energy drink in under 2 hours.

He suffered from a caffeine induced cardiac arrhythmia. Based on estimates, he may have consumed about 470 mg of caffeine, over the daily recommended limit, in under two hours. The energy drink is particularly to blame, as it contains tons of caffeine and sugar. The American Association of Pediatrics has warned against kids and teenagers consuming energy drinks, and they say no one can ensure they are safe. Soda’s not good for you by any means, but energy drinks seem to be even more dangerous.

4. It Can Increase The Chance For Hallucinations

Caffeine is not like LSD. We’re guessing you already knew that. It does not directly cause any kind of hallucination. But, a study has linked caffeine consumption to hallucinations. It doesn’t cause hallucinations, but they are correlated. Those who consume the equivalent of 3 cups of brewed coffee (315 mg caffeine) per day were more likely to hallucinate than those who didn’t.

Caffeine has been shown to increase stress. The researchers of the study say that stress is also related to hallucinations. It’s not common at all, but stress may increase the possibility of hallucinations for those who are prone to them. On the other hand, it may be the other way around. They say it may be that those prone to hallucinations may use caffeine as a coping mechanism. The jury’s still out on this one, as they say.

3. It’s a Social Drug

Sure, a lot of times people drink caffeinated drinks on their own. In fact, that’s probably the most common way to consume it. But there is also a unique social aspect to coffee drinking. The primary locations of these social occasions are coffee shops. In the coffee shop owner’s ideal world, people would come in, purchase something expensive, and then leave. But that is not how people act for the most part.

People treat coffee shops as meeting places. They spend hours there studying, chatting, working on business presentations, or “writing” (AKA wasting time online). They are unique places, like a bar but much more relaxed. You can talk to other people, but it’s not expected. And there are probably more people getting actual work done than at the nightclub. The fact that it helps improve productivity is one of the main reasons that caffeine is the world’s most accepted drug, and also one of the reasons that people choose to do their work at coffee shops.

2. It’s Expensive

Illegal drugs are expensive. Many small fortunes have been lost to cocaine and quaaludes… at least that’s what we got out of Wolf of Wall Street. Unfortunately, caffeine is an expensive habit as well, and a much more accessible one. Some desperate addicts spend $5 on coffee per day. In a single day! A coffee habit slowly but surely eats away at one’s savings, eroding the sense of security and ease that was their savings account.

So, why is coffee so expensive? First off, it’s a volatile business, so owners tend to raise prices because of risk. The crops and market tend to fluctuate a lot, which causes uncertainty. There are tons of threats to the world’s coffee supply, and a shortage could really hurt coffee shops. So, the lower the supply of coffee goes, the higher the price will be for the shops and the customers. It’s production also requires lots of different people and organizations. It’s estimated that each coffee bean is handled by 30 different pairs of hands before it ends up in your cup. Most businesses have middlemen, and coffee’s got a ton of them. Coffee is not necessary to life, no matter what you’ve heard people say. It’s a luxury item and is therefore highly priced.  

If you want to keep your costs down, stick with the simpler variations, like black coffee. Specialty drinks are bound to be much more expensive. And to make it even cheaper, make your own at home.

1. Governments Have Tried To Ban It Before

Most recreational drugs are banned. Coffee and alcohol are pretty much the only two openly and fully accepted in American society. Alcohol is legal for anyone over the age of 21, and caffeine is totally legal for everyone. 8-year-olds drink soda chock full of sugar and caffeine. There’s no longer any actual cocaine in Coke, but there’s still a lot of white powder that’s pretty bad for you.  

In addition to the health dangers of overconsumption, there are also psychoactive effects to caffeine. It is, after all, a drug. And, like pretty much all drugs, governments have tried to ban it before. Banning drugs is like a drug to some people. In the 17th century Ottoman Empire, the consumption of coffee was a capital offense. Sultan Murad IV was fully on board the anti-caffeine train, prescribing death for coffee drinkers. That’s right, death. And he didn’t stop there. He would dress up as a commoner and walk around Istanbul trying to catch people defying his law. He carried a freaking sword around with him and when he came upon anyone sipping a latte, he would chop off their heads. Ironically, despite his anti-drug rhetoric, the Sultan didn’t heed his own warning: his death was caused by alcohol poisoning.

The coffee hate wasn’t limited to one country. In England, The Women’s Petition Against Coffee argued that coffee was to blame for tons of problems, particularly regarding men. They even blamed coffee for causing impotence. They knew they had to fight back, for The Devil’s Cup had ruined their husbands. This sounds somewhat similar to the Women’s Temperance movement. And these sorts of ideas continue into the present day, in a more restrained way. Just last year, New Jersey was considering banning people from driving after drinking coffee. But, try as they might, coffee will rebound. Despite this resistance and it’s side effects, we fully expect caffeine to continue to be the world’s most popular drug.