Braingle: 'Drugging' Brain Teaser

Drugging

Science brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.

Puzzle ID:	#17777
Fun:	(2.92)
Difficulty:	(1.1)
Category:	Science
Submitted By:	jmcleod
Corrected By:	Fire_Shell96

Mr. Jones filed a lawsuit against the company he worked for. He claimed that the company he worked for was drugging him to make him a better worker. He claimed that the coffee the company provided contained a drug called Trimethylxanthine. Trimethylxanthine is an addictive drug that increases alertness, improves concentration, and gives you a euphoric feeling. It operates using the same mechanisms that amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin use to stimulate the brain only to a lesser degree. When the coffee was tested it was found that it did contain large amounts of Trimethylxanthine. But, Mr. Jones did not win his lawsuit. Why?

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Comments

jacintan May 29, 2004	I was close. I thought that the drug wasn't illegal but had no idea what it was. Then it came to my mind that it might have been an every day drug that was always in coffee. Good one.
liltunalol May 30, 2004	hmm nice facts!! veeeery interesting... //then freaks out cause liltunalol is a coffee-freak //
od-1 May 31, 2004	nice one.
fasil Jun 01, 2004	I had no idea what Trimethylxanthine is but I still got the right answer. This is kind of like the old Dihydrogen Oxide (spelling?) teaser.
sweetbabe Jun 02, 2004	that's a really good one.
jmcleod Jun 02, 2004	your right fasil. I got the idea from the Dihydrogen Oxide email scare that was going around, stating that Dihydrogen Oxide was a dangerous chemical. That and my old boss was so addicted to caffeine it was scary.
witness Jun 15, 2004
rashad Jul 04, 2004	I really liked that 1 hope u cand send more of those
pianofox Aug 13, 2004	COFFEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S GREAT!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, great teaser!!!!!!!!!!!
nobish Oct 19, 2004	Interesting. I would have sworn Mr. Jones lost the case on the basis that the company never forced him to drink the coffee.
Goat Oct 19, 2004	Hee...Hee Hee...Hee heee Heeee...Heee Heee Heeee Heeee. I likes it.
Chelsie Oct 19, 2004	You mean the answer isn't "because they chained him to the wall and forced him to swallow the not-hot-enough-to-sue coffee each day therefore there were no grounds for mental anguish?????" Well go figure~ ...pssst gimme a QP of Trimethylxanthine
filetmerlot Oct 19, 2004	no Chelsie, don't you see. The real reason he sued was because they wouldn't let him make it an Irish Coffee. Being forced to drink the coffee without a shot of Baily's is cruel and unusual punishment!
BrenBeadSP Oct 19, 2004	Strange but true - I love coffee too.
ladyblue21 Oct 20, 2004	Awsome! I liked it!!
orlilover Oct 23, 2004	hahaha!! that was funny!!! but you were both wrong, Chelsie and filetmerlot! Mr. Jones sued cause the company was making him drink the coffee every 5 seconds so he went psycho and tried to sue cause all that drinking-of-coffee was...oh, who cares? great teaser! really funny!
mathmatition Dec 16, 2004	Loved it. Helps being a scientist myself. Or at least working ao it.
tiptoes007berbs Jan 20, 2005	I thought maybe he was drugging the coffee himself maybe i need a dose myself and a shot of baileys to go along with!
MJ_fan Jun 06, 2005	i thought this one was pretty easy
kibber Sep 19, 2005	teasers written with big words designed to confuse people are not teasers. even though this was easy, it doesn't follow the teaser formula, and it's not fun
vbguy101 Aug 20, 2006	WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
vbguy101 Aug 20, 2006	?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????
MelkorDCLXVI Apr 17, 2007	they are too fun! (even though this 1 was ez)
luckylefty Nov 27, 2007	Too easy but fun anyway
Hungrygit Dec 11, 2007	At first i thought it may be sugar, but that isn't naturally found in coffee, so then I stuck with caffeine. I thought the quiz was going to be more interesting than it was
feste Dec 11, 2007	If the drug increased Mr Jones'alertness and improved his concentration then he must have been a poor worker. Coffee saved him, but he dare not switch to decaf and keep his job.
slamherhard Dec 11, 2007
bradon182001 Dec 11, 2007	This was a bit easy. Nice teaser, but still easy.
doehead Dec 11, 2007	Another repeat.
dogg6pound9 Dec 11, 2007	i force myself to drink 2 pots of coffee every morning and afternoon... did you expect me not to know what caffeine is???... can i sue myself and lose???
saleprice Dec 11, 2007	I thought the same as nobish, that no one forced him to drink coffee so he had no case against employer
avonma Dec 11, 2007	I don't remember hearing the word Trimethylxanthine, but I just assumed the answer was caffeine. Easy, but interesting.
phyllisa Dec 11, 2007	I agree with Avonma, and am now going to drink my 2nd cup
luckypuppy Dec 11, 2007	Nice easy one to start the day off with, thanks!
wordmama Dec 11, 2007	Learned a new word; thanks!
auntiesis Dec 11, 2007	Even without knowing the word, it was too easy to figure out.
tommysmo Dec 11, 2007	an easy one if you know about caffiene.
hradilv Dec 11, 2007	Yawn...
UptheHill Dec 11, 2007	Two words, MORE COFFEE!!!
zaya Dec 11, 2007	How do most people rate this fun and also as easy as possible?!? The lamest teaser I've seen here
2ndhandrose Dec 11, 2007	I knew he was talking about Caffeine. However I answered, HE DIDN'T HAVE TO DRINK IT, HE HAD A CHOICE. How is caffeine an answer the way it is worded ???? I'll have another coffee please oops TOO MUCH
2ndhandrose Dec 11, 2007	Sorry 2nd Posting. But did anyone else get this too? He DID NOT HAVE TO DRINK IT. Thanks, Rose
betaiv Dec 11, 2007	easy but good one!
katjojo Dec 11, 2007	I thought the answer was because he did not actually drink the coffee.
christaffer Dec 11, 2007	No guys, I think you're missing the point. He lost his case because the drug he was referring to is Caffeine, a legal, harmless chemical. Sure he didn't have to drink it, but if a company put speed into their coffee and gave it to the workers, they probably would win a case!
Akatsuki_Neko Dec 11, 2007	I was all like "...hmmmm it's caffene!" the second i clicked the Show Answer.
ben2 Dec 11, 2007	You say there was a large amount of caffeine in the coffee, that could kill the guy, i think he should have won the case.
jabdr Dec 11, 2007	Only answer there is... Great new word, though
AuthenticallyMe Dec 11, 2007	Nice, got it right away...Saw a picture of the chemical make-up of caffeine the other day...that popped in my mind when I was reading the teaser...and being a chemistry-loving person, I remembered it... Now that I'm looking the picture again, I see it has caffeine's chemical name on it...who knew I'd see it again? Thanks for the teaser. I learned something new! (Chemical Name of Caffeine -- I'll remember it from now on!)
Harmony_Girl Dec 11, 2007	Pretty easy...but I totally loved it!!! Adds to favorites
mondayschild59 Dec 11, 2007	That was a great teaser. I actually got one right. Thanks for posting. Loved it. Monday~
AndrewWalker Jan 17, 2008	Easy as pie
bestgirl Dec 11, 2010	ugh--this is science???
papiermeister Dec 11, 2010	woohoo! moar caffee, plz!!!! Agree with Rose that he did not have to drink the stuff, but that was not the point. I got the caffeine link, but did think that he was not compelled to drink it. Anyway, fun teaser and I, too learned a new word today! thany you and excuse the overlong post - perhaps too much trimethylxanthine this morning!!!
auntiesis Dec 11, 2010	Easy. Cute. Bye.