Dominic Holden

Check out this book display at Starbucks.

This was the only book for sale at the store. And what’s the book about? The tragic effects of meth addiction on a man’s son. Meth, as we know, is an addictive stimulant that makes people change their habits and spend all their money… and if there’s one thing Starbucks wants its customers to understand, it’s that Starbucks firmly believes, as confirmed by eye-catching displays that include emotion-packed words like “heartbreak” that they most certainly, no-way, no-how approve of stimulant addiction.

But wait one bean-pickin’ minute, Starbucks. Your business is all about selling addictive stimulants. Listening to the fervor in your store from customers who say they “need to get my Starbucks” and then pay five dollars for a cup of coffee removes any plausible deniability that you’re blind to the addictions you’re fostering. And you’re and capitalizing on them.

That said, there’s nothing inherently wrong with selling coffee to consenting adults. And I acknowledge that coffee is less harmful than meth, though I know more people addicted to coffee than meth. (Amphetamines, since we’re talking about prevalent stimulants, are prescribed to millions of adults. People who wish to distinguish those harmful pharmaceuticals from harmful street meth on some moral high ground are deluding themselves.) But regardless of whether it’s a powerful or moderate stimulant, adults deserve honest, accurate information about what they’re taking.

Starbucks provides no information about the harms of drinking a quadruple grande breve with one thousand calories and enough caffeine to jolt a elk. But they should. And Starbucks’ attempt to downplay the addictive properties of their own product by juxtapositioning it next to the dramatized depiction of another, more harmful drug is dishonest. But it’s a beautiful ploy.

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