If you need a caffeine ‘fix’ every day, you might be a drug addict

Most readers of this newspaper get their fix before they tackle the front page.

They make a cup of instant coffee, brew a cup of real coffee, or buy a beaker in a coffee shop. Or they get out the teapot and access their caffeine that way.

Of course, they don’t announce themselves, or even perceive themselves, as drug addicts: It’s the taste of the coffee they really like; or the lovely hot container on which to warm up cold hands, these already chilly mornings; or the wonderful smell as it brews, filling the house with promise; or the benefit of the spent coffee grounds to the flower beds outside.