Aeroshot, Caffeine Inhaler

            David Edwards, a Harvard professor of biomedical engineering has unveiled his newest invention, a valuable innovation in this caffeine-driven world. Aeroshot. This device looks very much like a tube of lip balm—small, sleek, and plastic. It is a caffeine inhaler. Apparently, we can’t consume caffeine fast enough in the form of coffee and energy beverages. We need it in our bodies NOW. Aeroshot does not even attempt to disguise its purpose: to pump caffeine into our systems and provide a short burst of synthetic energy.

            The AeroShot contains a puff of lime-flavored caffeine powder, dispensing about 40 mg of the drug in your mouth with each use, like an asthma inhaler. The Aeroshot has already been released as a startup product in the Boston area. Although the purpose of Aeroshot is to boost energy on college campuses and in the workplace, many officials are expressing concerns. In December, Sen. Charles E. Schumer worried that the drug would be used as a “party-enhancer.” He questioned its safety and whether or not the inhaler should be made available to children.

            Patrick Hruby, a writer for The Washington Times, pointed out in his article “America’s Caffeine Addiction Races Full Speed Ahead” that regardless of what the drug is intended for, people will use it as they please. “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.”