AeroShot caffeine inhaler - American caffeine addiction races full speed ahead

In the 1930's through the 1950's housewives and teenagers and a good part of the population were chronically sticking Benzedrine inhalers up their noses. Most used this for nasal congestion relief, some found something else, an over-the-counter fix of an amphetamine.

Now there is a new fix.

Coffee and its pick-me-up caffeine is a wonderful thing, but it is a natural part of a good brew. It's just not the same thing as a powder, or up the nose. What's to follow, in the vein?

At any rate, a pot of coffee is much more preferable to a quart of Scotch. And either is better than ridiculous legislation introduced à la Schumer.

American caffeine addiction races full speed ahead - Washington Times

By Patrick Hruby 1-17-12

When future talking-monkey archaeologists sift through the detritus of postapocalyptic America, they would do well to ignore the usual culturalRosetta Stones - the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, seven seasons and counting of “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”

They should focus instead on a single artifact: the AeroShot caffeine inhaler.

Sleek and plastic, the size of a lip balm tube, the AeroShot is the brainchild of David Edwards, aHarvard professor of biomedical engineering who also invented breathable chocolate. (Don’t ask.) The AeroShot contains a puff of lime-flavored caffeine powder; one squeeze, and it dispenses about 40 mg of the drug in your mouth, like an asthma inhaler.

A startup product recently released in the Boston area, the AeroShot already has drawn the ire of Sen. Charles E. Schumer. [who else?] In December, the New York Democrat expressed concern that the inhaler would be used as a “party enhancer” and asked the Food and Drug Administration to review the safety and legality of selling it to children.

In doing so, Mr. Schumer overlooked the obvious: When it comes to the nation’s predilection for energy-boosting enhancement - at parties, at the office or anywhere in between, for young and old alike - the horse has long since left the barn, if only to lap up a double espresso at the neighboring Starbucks.

-read on at link-