The Rise and Fall of Cocaine Cola

**Morten** · 11-03-2011 01:05 PM

I came across this article about cocaine in Coca Cola and just felt like sharing.

It has been estimated that John Pemberton's original "Coke", as it was nicknamed, contained almost 9 milligrams of cocaine per glass. But caffeine increases the effect of cocaine and most customers usually drank more than one glass of Coke; sometimes several throughout the day. Three Cokes would provide roughly 30 milligrams of cocaine, which compares with the 20 to 30 milligrams normally "snorted" in a day by a contemporary cocaine user. So it shouldn't be a surprise that Atlanta's soda fountains soon became almost as popular as its saloons.

**Seroquel** · 11-03-2011 01:20 PM

This is new.

**Morten** · 11-03-2011 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by Seroquel

This is new.

**ninja9578** · 11-03-2011 06:28 PM

^ That

I'm pretty sure it's common knowledge that Coca Cola originally had cocaine in it.

**Jeff777** · 11-03-2011 06:34 PM

It is common knowledge, but thanks for sharing anyway. Never ceases to amaze me how far companies will go to hook customers.

**Seroquel** · 11-03-2011 06:36 PM

Strong sarcasm detection skills ITT.

**tommo** · 11-03-2011 10:46 PM

I'm pretty sure it was never put in there to get customers addicted. It was for taste and coz it makes you feel good. Besides, it take a really fucking long time to get addicted to cocaine.
Caffeine is better at that.

**ninja9578** · 11-03-2011 11:13 PM

Yeah, I don't think it was for getting addicted. Cocaine was branded a miracle drug at the time by legitimate medical scholars, Coca Cola is over 100 years old. They put it in because it makes you feel good. I'm also fairly sure that ingesting cocaine doesn't give you as strong reaction than snorting it, not to mention that it was not nearly as strong then too.

**JoeyBelgier** · 11-03-2011 11:17 PM

I could live with that.. I'm born way too late.

**tommo** · 11-03-2011 11:34 PM

me too.

**saltyseedog** · 11-03-2011 11:37 PM

I heard it had small amounts of cocaine in it up until the 80's.

*to lazy to read article*

also I guess after they changed coke to where it didn't have any cocaine in it, it tasted alot different.

**Quantiq** · 11-04-2011 02:24 PM

I'm guessing most people TL;DR'd that wall of text. Surprisingly, I actually read it. I just have that much time and patience...

Originally Posted by Jeff777

It is common knowledge, but thanks for sharing anyway. Never ceases to amaze me how far companies will go to hook customers.

At the time it wasn't to get you "hooked". It was seen as a legitimate form of medicine. It was branded as a miracle cure for people with headaches. It was actually when Coca-Cola got rid of the cocaine in their drinks that they became a huge multinational corporation.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Yeah, I don't think it was for getting addicted. Cocaine was branded a miracle drug at the time by legitimate medical scholars, Coca Cola is over 100 years old. They put it in because it makes you feel good. I'm also fairly sure that ingesting cocaine doesn't give you as strong reaction than snorting it, not to mention that it was not nearly as strong then too.

Coca-Cola originally contained 9 milligrams of cocaine. A regular user of cocaine will snort about 20 to 30 milligrams of cocaine a day while some people at the time would actually drink up to 5 cokes a day (about 45 milligrams). It actually had detrimental health effects to some people.

Also, the bias of this article is hilarious. I'm not sure if anyone actually bothered to read it but it is probably the most chauvinistic article I've ever read in my entire life. Its quite obvious the author became a bit bored half through the process of writing his article and decided to rant on about how much adulation he has for this company.

**tommo** · 11-04-2011 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by Quantiq

I'm guessing most people TL;DR'd that wall of text. Surprisingly, I actually read it. I just have that much time and patience...

Originally Posted by Quantiq

Also, the bias of this article is hilarious. I'm not sure if anyone actually bothered to read it but it is probably the most chauvinistic article I've ever read in my entire life. Its quite obvious the author became a bit bored half through the process of writing his article and decided to rant on about how much adulation he has for this company.

Yep, all of us just jumped to that conclusion quicker than you.
Any new article written about this is going to be pointless.
Nothing to do with patience.

Originally Posted by saltyseedog

I heard it had small amounts of cocaine in it up until the 80's.

*to lazy to read article*

also I guess after they changed coke to where it didn't have any cocaine in it, it tasted alot different.

Nope, they still put cocaine in it now, decocainised coca extract because they need the taste to stay the same.

**Arra** · 11-09-2011 10:14 AM

I've honestly never heard anything about this. But I'm pretty uninformed about everything. A lot of common knowledge is stuff I've never heard of because I never used to watch the news (and still rarely do) and didn't talk to people or get out much.

I always thought it was a coincidence that it was called coke like the drug. People even make jokes, referring to 'coke' and then saying 'not that kind!'. I guess the pop was really named after the drug?

**tommo** · 11-09-2011 12:13 PM

Yes it was. Coca Cola. Coca plant in a Cola (Kola Nut) beverage. I'm not sure whether they still use the Kola nut.

**Seroquel** · 11-10-2011 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by dreamdimensions

nowadays it has chemicals in it which give you terrible nightmares. I wouldn't even know if I wasn't a lucid dreamer.

Which chemicals are those?

**Seroquel** · 11-10-2011 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by dreamdimensions

I don't know what chemicals, but I'm sure there was a cause and effect. Several nights when I drank coke before bed I had very fearful lucid dreams. The effect was so powerful a change in my psychology that I am compelled to believe there could be a chemical designed for psychological warfare (yes it was really that strong) in the coke which may affect the deeper conscious state which we can see in dreams.

I hope a few people will test this by drinking coke before sleep and reporting their experience.

**tommo** · 11-10-2011 03:53 PM

Put a topic in the Research sub-forum. DO NOT tell anybody that it causes nightmares.
Just ask them to drink a Coke before bed and report their dreams, or link to their dream journal on here from that night. See what the results are. Again, don't tell them that it may cause nightmares, as it will ruin any results.