Every morning teenagers walk through the doors of their school holding a hot cup of coffee to start their day.

This morning ritual has gone beyond the delicious taste of coffee onto an addiction of caffeine.

Teenagers used to go grab a cup of coffee to get energy to finish up a big project or get their morning started after staying up all night to finish a paper.

It now has reached the point where high school students can’t go a morning without a cup.

Caffeine in teenagers doesn’t stop with coffee; teens are drinking soda and energy drinks just as much, if not more. A study from Johns Hopkins states that between 80 and 90 percent of all adults and teenagers consume caffeine habitually.

This addiction may not be seen as anything at first, but several students just saying, "I just need a boost in the morning," can lead to a life-long addiction. This addiction can evolve into several health problems.

Immediate side effects of too much caffeine can include: heartburn, headaches, stomach troubles and a jump in blood pressure.

Since caffeine is a stimulant, it can also produce symptoms like jitters, irritability and hyperactivity.

"When sitting in a first period class it’s hard enough to pay attention when you’re tired," said senior Rachel H. "But being full of caffeine makes it just as hard to concentrate."

Short-term side effects are the least of the worries behind a caffeine addiction. Caffeine damages your calcium balance in your bones and lowers bone density resulting in an increase risk for fractures. Although not factually proven, cases show that caffeine could have a role in cardiovascular disease as well. This just touches on several health effects that caffeine can have on the body. Not only does it affect your body’s health, but it can alter sleep habits.

Teens already receiving little sleep to start are at risk when they drink more caffeine. Studies from Johns Hopkins have shown that when caffeine is drunk throughout the day, the act of falling to sleep may be delayed, total sleep time may be reduced, and the quality of sleep may be decreased.

This is becoming a bigger problem with teenager caffeine drinkers; they need caffeine to get through the day but then can’t get a good night’s rest and are more tired the next day, resulting in craving more caffeine. Teens need to stop the increase in caffeine addiction by cutting back or stopping drinking it all together. The problem with this is it’s just as hard to stop as other additive drugs.

Side effects to quitting caffeine can include headache, fatigue, sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and even depression. The best proven way to avoid most of these effects can be to gradually wean off caffeinated drinks.

People go day by day getting their "fix" on caffeine every morning without knowing what they are really doing and not knowing they are actually addicted to a drug.

(Some information courtesy of Columbia, John Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Health Canada)