Are you looking for the next big thing to get your heart racing, adrenaline pumping and send you bouncing off walls?

Then there is probably an energy drink out there for you.

American teens are known for taking things to the extreme and consuming drinks that promise a stimulant boost are no exception.

In fact, the already huge $1.1 billion energy drink market grew more than 700 percent from 2000 to 2005, according to market research performed by Mintel International Group Ltd.

Now, 31 percent of teenagers report they down energy drinks, according to Simmons Research.

In an Oct. 29 article, the Associated Press tried to draw a connection between teen energy drink consumption and their parents’ affinity for Starbucks.

“Young people need to break away from the bonds of adults and what society thinks is right,” Elizabethtown College Assistant Professor Bryan Greenberg told the AP. “They’ve grown up watching their parents drink Starbucks coffee and want their own version.”

But teens aren’t drinking Bawls or Monster Energy for a quick pick-me-up, they are chugging multiple energy drinks to get a buzz. And in the end, this stimulant craze has more to do with marketing than anything else.

Energy drink companies sell their products using guerrilla-style street-marketing campaigns that have obviously hit their mark.

Few college students nowadays can walk down the street without being accosted by brawny men in ripped t-shirts peddling free energy drinks that make you look cool and feel better too. And students don’t have to look far see a Red Bull car zipping across campus or parked on the street.

Teens aren’t consuming these beverages to emulate their coffee-drinking parents. Instead, young males looking to rebel are the biggest market for energy drinks.

And when young people see them on the shelves, some with huge warning labels or, they buy right into the cool-factor these drinks provide.

“Many, linked [their purchase] to extreme sports, represent adventure and rebellion. Others seem to offer a party image. Some niche brands have aligned with personal interests, such as music and spirituality,” according to Mintel International Group Ltd. report.

Just as actors and actresses have made smoking hip in previous generations, extreme sports and high-octane movies have raised energy drinks to a new level of coolness.

But are the drinks dangerous?

As of now, studies have not found energy drinks to be harmful if consumed moderately. But this changes when alcohol is added to the equation.

And while kids could be doing much worse to get hyped-up, the growing consumption of chemical-drenched energy drinks is something parents and doctors should keep an eye on.