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by Spixxy on November 23rd, 2005

Spixxy

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When Coca-Cola contained cocaine, how much would typically be in a bottle?

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Answers. 7 helpful answers below.

  • by Alatea on November 24th, 2005

    Alatea

    The only known measure of the amount of cocaine in Coca-Cola was determined in 1902 as being as little as 1/400 of a grain (0.2 mg) per ounce of syrup. (6 ppm.) The actual amount of cocaine that Coca-Cola contained during the first twenty years of its production is impossible to determine.
    -------------------------------------

    Coke was originally formulated in 1886 by one John Styth Pemberton, an Atlanta druggist and former Confederate army officer. Among other things it contained (and presumably still contains) three parts coca leaves to one part cola nut.

    The new soft drink was one of many concoctions in that era containing cocaine, which was being touted as a benign substitute for alcohol. Coke, in fact, was promoted as a patent medicine, which would "cure all nervous afflictions--Sick Headache, Neuralgia, Hysteria, Melancholy, Etc...."

    How much cocaine Coke actually contained and how much kick you got from it is not known (a Coke spokesman today says the amount was "trivial"). But for years Southerners called the stuff "dope" or "a shot in the arm," while soda fountains were called "hop joints" and Coke delivery trucks "dope wagons."

    In the 1890s, however, public sentiment began to turn against cocaine, which among other things was believed to be a cause of racial violence by drug-crazed blacks. In 1903 the New York Tribune published an article linking cocaine with black crime and calling for legal action against Coca-Cola.

    Shortly thereafter Coke quietly switched from fresh to "spent" coca leaves (i.e., what's left over after the cocaine has been removed). It also stopped advertising Coke as a cure for what ails you and instead promoted it simply as a refreshing beverage.

    http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_033.html

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  • by Linda on June 27th, 2008

    Linda

    Back in 1800's the Coke drink contained 8.6mg of cocaine, the average street dose of the drug is 20-30mg.

    It also contained katu cola and caffeine.

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  • by LoyalTubist-CountryClub Life in Mindanao on February 21st, 2008

    LoyalTubist-CountryClub Life in Mindanao

    I should add that Coca-Cola has never quit using coca leaves in the making of its beverage. Since 1929, they have been using detoxified coca leaves which today are produced in a top secret farm of a company called Stepan. (This came from a friend of mine, whose name remains a secret, who was an employee of Coke for almost 40 years.)

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  • by Nazara on November 24th, 2005

    Nazara

    Coca-Cola was named back in 1885 for its two "medicinal" ingredients: extract of coca leaves and kola nuts. Just how much cocaine was originally in the formulation is hard to determine, but the drink undeniably contained some cocaine in its early days. Frederick Allen describes the public attitude towards cocaine that existed as Coca-Cola's developers worked on perfecting their formula in 1891:

    The first stirrings of a national debate had begun over the negative aspects of cocaine, and manufacturers were growing defensive over charges that use of their products might lead to "cocainism" or the "cocaine habit". The full-throated fury against cocaine was still a few years off, and Candler and Robinson were anxious to continue promoting the supposed benefits of the coca leaf, but there was no reason to risk putting more than a tiny bit of coca extract in their syrup. They cut the amount to a mere trace.

    Allen also explains that cocaine continued to be an ingredient in the syrup in order to protect the trade name "Coca-Cola":

    But neither could Candler take the simple step of eliminating the fluid extract of coca leaves from the formula. Candler believed that his product's name had to be descriptive, and that he must have at least some by-product of the coca leaf in the syrup (along with some kola) to protect his right to the name Coca-Cola. Protecting the name was critical. Candler had no patent on the syrup itself. Anyone could make an imitation. But no one could put the label "Coca-Cola" on an imitation so long as Candler owned the name. The name was the thing of real value, and the registered trademark was its only safeguard. Coca leaves had to stay in the syrup.
    How much cocaine was in that "mere trace" is impossible to say, but we do know that by 1902 it was as little as 1/400 of a grain of cocaine per ounce of syrup. Coca-Cola didn't become completely cocaine-free until 1929, but there was scarcely any of the drug left in the drink by then:

    By Heath's calculation, the amount of ecgonine [an alkaloid in the coca leaf that could be synthesized to create cocaine] was infinitesimal: no more than one part in 50 million. In an entire year's supply of 25-odd million gallons of Coca-Cola syrup, Heath figured, there might be six-hundredths of an ounce of cocaine.

    So, yes, at one time there was cocaine in Coca-Cola. But before you're tempted to run off claiming Coca-Cola turned generations of drinkers into dope addicts, consider the following: back in 1885 it was far from uncommon to use cocaine in patent medicines (which is what Coca-Cola was originally marketed as) and other medical potions. When it first became general knowledge that cocaine could be harmful, the backroom chemists who comprised Coca-Cola at the time (long before it became the huge company we now know) did everything they could with the technology they had available at the time to remove every trace of cocaine from the beverage. What was left behind (until the technology improved enough for it all to be removed) wasn't enough to give a fly a buzz.

    From: http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/cocaine.asp (among others)

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  • by RedJohn on November 24th, 2005

    RedJohn

    Looking through a little of the history of Coco-Cola shows that it was originally made from kola nuts and extract of coca leaves. It hit the marketplace in 1885. The amount of coca was first reduced in 1891, because of growing awareness of problems with cocaine addiction. Just how much cocaine was in the original mixture between 1885 to 1891 is unknown. By 1902, it contained about 0.0025 (1/400) of a grain of cocaine per ounce of syrup - an insignificant amount. The amount of coca extract was further reduced until it was finally eliminated in 1929.

    Coca extract or processed cocaine was commonly used in the late 19th century to treat a number of medical conditions and was present in many patent medicines. Its use was gradually phased out because of the drug's addictive nature. It continued to be used in medical applications for quite a while. The father of a old friend of mine claimed that they used a few drops of cocaine in his eye as an anaesthetic, when he had some shrapnel removed during WW2.

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  • by WaterMaster on June 27th, 2008

    WaterMaster

    That's easy, the bottles would be full of Coca-Cola, otherwise they would never sell any. They were smaller bottles though. :)

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  • by Shane_B7227 on December 26th, 2010

    Shane_B7227

    you guys think coca-cola doesnt have any thing in it anymore?

    Ha Ha

    who told you that?

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