Smoking Coffee: A Dumb New Trend?

Some people start their day with a cup of coffee and a cigarette. A few creative teenagers, however, have found a way to combine the two questionable habits into one time-saving act by smoking coffee.

There are a handful of online videos showing teenagers rolling coffee beans or grounds into cigarette papers — or placing them in a pipe — and then lighting up and smoking the coffee for a quick caffeine buzz.

There's no verifiable information confirming that this is a real trend — it may be just another Internet oddity — but common sense would seem to indicate that it's not a good idea for anyone, let alone young teens. A caffeine overdose, according to the National Institutes of Health, can cause vomiting, convulsions, breathing trouble, diarrhea and an irregular heartbeat.

Marc Lallanilla has been a science writer and health editor at About.com and a producer with ABCNews.com. His freelance writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and TheWeek.com. Marc has a Master's degree in environmental planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin.