NAME.....Cokecaine
CODE.....FD3306
ORIGIN...1885
STATUS...True

Cocaine was used in the recipe of the original Coca-Cola drink.

Summary

It's hard to believe, but the class 'A' drug, Cocaine, was used as part of the original Coca-Cola formula. Coca-Cola was given it's name in 1885, and was marketed as a tonic for most common ailments, based on the two medicinal main ingredients which consisted of extracts of Coca leaves and Kola nuts. The exact amount of Cocaine that was used in the original recipe is not certain, but only after a few years, the amount was dropped considerably. The reason being that by the mid 1890's, the harmful effects of Cocaine were now being realised and the use of Cocaine was starting to be frowned upon. It is reported that Coca-Cola still had to include traces of the drug as an ingredient, to protect the trade name of the drink. The 'Coca' part of Coca-Cola was a descriptive reference to the Cocaine (Coca Leaves) that the drink's syrup contained. So, to protect the rights to the name of Coca-Cola, the drink had to contain cocaine. In the early days, the syrup had not been patented, so the name was a very valuable asset.

The exact year that Coca-Cola stopped using Cocaine as an ingredient completely is not certain, as the year varies considerably from source to source. It is widely believed that all traces of the drug were removed from the formula in 1905, but another source also reports that Cocaine was not completely removed until the late 1920's.

Final Thoughts

This legend is part of a much bigger group of Urban Legends, commonly known as 'Cokelore'. The global success of the Coca-Cola Company has been tremendous and spectacular to say the least, and the amount of UL's associated with Coca-Cola is a fair reflection to that success. Probably, the only other company that could claim such a sheer volume of legends associated with it is Disney.

Cokelore legends range from the truth, to the ridiculous, and include such classics as Coca-Cola used to be green, claims that the Mormons own the company, and a mouse was found in a Coke bottle. In case you were wondering, the first two are most definitely false, but the mouse in the bottle may be based on an actual true event (scary thought!)