Did Coca-Cola Really Contain Cocaine When It Was First Invented?

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Many people say it’s a myth that Coca-Cola once contained cocaine, or that the cocaine was only there by accident. In this 3 part article, I’m going to take a deep dive into not only Coca-Cola history, but the early history of the U.S. soda pop industry in general. In this article, I will cover questions about the presence of cocaine and other drugs in early sodas. In the next article, I will talk about the early Coca-Cola imitators and Coke’s efforts to stop them.

Neon Coca-Cola sign c.1930s, originally from Griffin Drug Store, Edina, Minnesota. Image by Ben Franske

Did Coca-Cola Have Cocaine In It?

Yes, Coca-Cola did start out containing cocaine. It is not a myth and the drug was not there by accident. In truth, Coca-Cola was created as a means of delivering cocaine in a delicious beverage!

There was no attempt to hide the cocaine in the early days of the drink. What’s more, in 1993 Mark Pendergrast discovered the original formula for Coca-Cola, which called for 4 ounces of “F.E. Coco,” which meant fluid extract of coca, or coca leaves, from which cocaine is derived.

Regardless, the presence of the drug was no secret, and in that age, it wasn’t rare. Look at the illustration below.

The cocaine was neither an accident nor was it a thinly disguised way for addicts to get the drug. It was not disguised at all. When Coca-Cola was developed by John Stith Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, it was because of the prohibition, which began in Atlanta in 1886.

Before then, Pemberton had already been selling another coca product, which was a wine that he called French Wine Coca, made with Peruvian coca leaves.

Before Coca-Cola, most physicians who used cocaine in their practice used coca wine. Therefore, this is the form in which most people consumed cocaine. Pemberton was not the first guy to sell the stuff. Vin Mariani had been sold prior and was still the most popular cocoa wine on the market.

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Mariani had lots of imitators, some of which may have simply been cheap wines dosed with cocaine, making them, ironically, more potent than the actual coca wines.

Legend has it that Pemberton’s original product was actually red wine with an extract of coca leaves and some cola nut. To think that the precursor to Coca-Cola was an adulterated red wine!

The First Coca-Cola Syrup

Pemberton needed another way of getting the medicinal benefits (as he saw it) to his customers in a palatable drink that didn’t involve alcohol. But he also saw the opportunity to sell a cheaper drink.

He developed a syrup to mix with carbonated water (soda water) which was already being used at drug stores to make soda fountain drinks. Early advertisements of Pemberton’s drink openly acknowledged the cocaine content and even touted the then-accepted medicinal benefits of the drug.

Vin Mariani Coca Wine vintage ad — **Vin Mariani Coca Wine**

Pemberton produced the first Coca-Cola syrup, which he didn’t have a name for yet, in his home laboratory and carried it down to Jacob’s Pharmacy on May 8, 1886, where it was mixed with soda water from the fountain and served up by the soda-jerk Willis Venable for five cents a glass.

Coca-Cola Was Only 5 Cents Until 1960

This was a great idea, as it made a lot more sense than selling 75-cent to one-dollar bottles of medicine to the sick, which hardly anyone could afford.

The price of a nickel for Coca-Cola was not a short-lived promotion. If you were alive prior to 1960, you may remember the nickel Coke. Hard to believe, but it’s true. Cokes still cost a nickel until 1960.

It is not clear that Pemberton ever actually coined the name Coca-Cola. Credit is sometimes given to bookkeeper Frank M. Robinson.

The National Druggist advertised Coca-Cola in 1896, praising the virtues of cocaine but saying of course something being so good for you had to taste bad. But thank God for Coca Cola, said the ad, because now we can have our cocaine and enjoy it too:

It seems to be a law of nature that the more valuable and efficacious a drug is, the nastier and more unpleasant its taste. It is therefore quite a triumph over nature that the Coca-Cola Co. of Atlanta, Ga., have achieved in their success in robbing both coca leaves and the kola nut of the exceeding nauseous and disagreeable taste while retaining their wonderful medicinal properties, and the power of restoring vitality and raising the spirits of the weary and debilitated. Not only have they done this, but by some subtle alchemy they have made them the basis of one of the most delightful, cheerful, and invigorating of fountain drinks.

Later advertisements, into the 20th century, continued to mention the coca leaf, but did not make such lofty medicinal claims, choosing instead to mention its invigorating and relatively harmless effects, “no more harmful than a cup of coffee or tea.”

early Coca-Cola advertisement — **Early Coca-Cola Ad with Less Emphasis on Medicinal Properties**

How Much Cocaine Did Coca-Cola Contain?

It has been estimated that Coca-Cola once contained an 9 mg of cocaine per glass. Compared to typical does of cocaine for a drug user, this is a small amount. A “line” of cocaine is 50–75 mg.

By 1903, the fresh coca leaves were removed from the formula and “spent” leave were used instead starting in 1904. These were the leftovers of the cocaine-extraction process and contained only trace levels of cocaine. Since 1929, Coca-Cola has used a cocaine-free coca leaf extract.

Today Coca-Cola Uses De-Cocainized Coca Leaves

The coca-leaf extract, listed in Coca-Cola ingredients as “flavoring,” is today made by the Stepan Company in a plant in Maywood, New Jersey. This is the only plant authorized by the federal government to import and process coca leaves. The company gets the coca leaves from Peru and Bolivia, extracts the cocaine from the leaves to make a “de-cocainized” leaves that can then be used to produce extracts. The crude cocaine is then sold to Mallinckrodt, the only company in the United States licensed to purify cocaine for medicinal use. ¹

Long after the syrup had ceased to contain any significant amount of cocaine, in North Carolina “dope” remained a common colloquialism for Coca-Cola, and “dope-wagons” were trucks that transported it

Coca-Cola was not the only drink to contain cocaine and other drugs. Many early soft drinks were sold as health tonics and many made claims of being cure-alls. This was not exclusive to Coca-Cola. However, Coca-Cola became so successful after being bought by Asa G. Candler in 1891 that many imitators followed, mostly in Atlanta but some in neighboring areas. Part two of this Coca-Cola deep-dive covers the rise of the early Coca-Cola imitators.