sdyer@bbncca.ARPA (Steve Dyer) (02/16/84)
CocaCola's original recipe back at the turn of the century called for coca leaves. Even now, coca leaves with the cocaine removed are part of the recipe. Every now and then someone starts wondering how much cocaine might still unavoidably be in Coke (answer: if any at all, not a physiologically significant amount.) I have NEVER heard that nicotine (or tobacco juice) was part of the recipe. Though we don't know CocaCola's recipe, we can at least attempt a pharmacological "thought experiment." If there was any significant amount of nicotine in Coke, we would expect typical "nicotinic" sympathetic and parasympathetic reactions after drinking it, especially in "Coke fiends." That is, nausea, sweating, increased heart rate and blood pressure. Any stimulant effect of CocaCola seems directly attributable to the caffeine present, and not to any nicotine. -- /Steve Dyer decvax!bbncca!sdyer sdyer@bbncca
marc@genrad.UUCP (Marc Smith) (02/16/84)
While my brother-in-law was working with the US Embassy in Lima Peru, the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta periodically purchased cocaine from the Peruvian government. He was involved since they needed boxes of paperwork to legally get the stuff into the country. Exactly what they did with the stuff was never disclosed. (This was about 2 years ago.) -- [decvax!genrad!]marc smith GenRad, Inc. Bolton Mass
jaw@ames-lm.UUCP (James A. Woods) (02/21/84)
# When a woman loses her mystery, she is finished forever.
-- Yves St. Laurent,
"Opium" debut celebration, 1979
Probably recycling an oldie here, but I understand that the
"active ingredient" of Coca Cola is NICOTINE, supplied via tobacco juice,
and thus categorizable as a "natural flavoring." As such, I don't believe
we are dealing with an FDA Class 2 substance, though I do wonder about
regulations which might govern its use. Since nicotine toxicity is in
the milligram range, this speculation gives rise to the question of
a human LD-50 for this popular beverage.
-- James A. Woods {hao | menlo70}!ames-lm!jawnorskog@fortune.UUCP (Lance Norskog) (02/29/84)
Yes, a few years ago I remember hearing a report from one of the 'alternative' news services (Pacific) which stated that every year about 3000 pounds of cocaine is transported from the Coca-Cola(TM) plant in (?Atlanta?) to various drug manufacturers.
grunwald@uiuccsb.UUCP (03/02/84)
#R:fortune:-265500:uiuccsb:13900002:000:274 uiuccsb!grunwald Mar 1 11:24:00 1984 That makes sense. Cocaine is still used as a perscription drug in this country. The high felt using it also acts as a local anasthetic. Cheaper, less abusable versions (Xylocaine, Procaine etc) are more commonly used. If you ever get stiches, you'll be glad they have it.
leimkuhl@uiuccsb.UUCP (03/04/84)
#R:fortune:-265500:uiuccsb:13900003:000:178 uiuccsb!leimkuhl Mar 2 15:21:00 1984 That's a true statement. Cocaine used to be a major ingredient in C-C, now, only the flavor of the cola plant is used--the cocaine is extracted and sold. Ben Leimkuhler
paul@uiucuxc.UUCP (03/11/84)
#R:fortune:-265500:uiucuxc:12300003:000:345 uiucuxc!paul Mar 10 20:11:00 1984 Cocaine is refined from leaves of the South American coca plant which grows at high altitudes. Cola flavoring is the nut extract from the kola tree found in the tropics. I don't believe that the Coke Company has anything to do with the production of pharmaceutical cocaine. Paul Pomes, ihnp4!uiucdcs!uiucuxc!paul University of Illinois, CSO
hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (03/14/84)
<OH BOY! Let's all vote on facts again!!> Coca Cola corporation is THE concern which produces coca extracts for pharmaceutical and soft-drink uses. If you don't believe it, then a relatively complicated check with the Customs dept. should reveal that they are licensed to import Coca leaves. It is a FACT, not a matter for debate, that Coca Cola originally had traces of actual Cocaine in their wondrous soft drink, although it was not anywhere near as refined as the white nose-wrecker that is popular among the modern autocides. The extracts currently used are flavoring only, and have no medicinal use. Hutch
kalm@ihuxw.UUCP (James ) (03/14/84)
The original recipe for Coca-Cola (TM) DID contain cocaine. It was invented by a doctor to cover the taste of bad-tasting medicine. Cocaine was not a controlled substance at that time. So BIG deal! Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and all their imitators taste like laxatives to me. PTOOEY. 7-Up forever, gang! (THE Un-Cola). (ITS imitators will never quite measure up.) However, if you need a quick fix and no 7-UP is available, the best (closest) tasting substitute I've found is none other than Bubble-UP. Believe it. Ha-ha-ha-haaaaa. -- Jim Kalmadge IX 1c415 8-367-0475 ihuxw!kalm
bbanerje@sjuvax.UUCP (B. Banerjee) (03/17/84)
>> It is a FACT, not a matter for debate, that Coca Cola originally had >> traces of actual Cocaine in their wondrous soft drink, although it was >> not anywhere near as refined as the white nose-wrecker that is popular >> among the modern autocides. The extracts currently used are flavoring >> only, and have no medicinal use. >> >> Hutch The Cocaine in Coca Cola was dispensed with early in the 20th Century in the USA. However, it remained in the flavouring sent overseas (Australia and India as far as I know) until the middle of the 1950's. This is all hearsay, so please don't ask me for references. -- Binayak Banerjee {allegra | astrovax | bpa | burdvax}!sjuvax!bbanerje
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (03/18/84)
"............................The extracts currently used are flavoring
only, and have no medicinal use..."
I have heard that this is an assumption, not a proven fact. The cocaine
is removed from the flavoring extracts, but (as with most natural products)
nobody has an exhaustive list of what compounds are still in there. It's
not impossible that some "active" substances might remain.
--
Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henryhutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (03/19/84)
|| "............................The extracts currently used are flavoring || only, and have no medicinal use..." | I have heard that this is an assumption, not a proven fact. The cocaine | is removed from the flavoring extracts, but (as with most natural products) | nobody has an exhaustive list of what compounds are still in there. It's | not impossible that some "active" substances might remain. | -- | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology Actually, what I said was (read it) "no medicinal use". This doesn't mean "completely inactive". I don't know if they ever did a complete analysis of the remnants for alkaloid fractions with interesting properties. It seems likely they would, for obvious reasons. Hutch
mikey@trsvax.UUCP (05/23/84)
#R:shark:-61300:trsvax:57000001:000:841 trsvax!mikey May 22 17:43:00 1984 Coca-cola had a LOT of Cocaine in the good old days. It was originally sold as a patent medicine for hangovers. It was sold in syrup only in the late 1800s. According to legend (an old copy of either Rolling Stone or High Times, I can't remember which) the use of Coca-cola with soda water started to become popular at soda fountains in drugstores around 1890. This infuriated the people that control our morals so much that laws were passed outlawing carbonated beverages (i.e. sodas) on Sundays. Remember that sodas consumed to excess then where not harmless. Undocumented legend says that this is where the term sundae came from, as it was about the only thing the drug store soda fountains could sell on Sunday besides straight ice cream. Mikey at trsvax p.s. This is probably where the bit about aspirin and coke came from.