Just in case you think that your glass of Coca-Cola needs a bump, a New Jersey company has now reached a deal with the US Drug Enforcement Administration to continue imports of a plant used to make cocaine.is your new winter tipple, the company has no intention of putting actual cocaine into their beverages, and will ‘de-cocainise’ their special ingredient.
The coca leaves are used to create a “de-cocainised” ingredient for the soda and the leftover byproduct is sold to the opioid manufacturing company Mallinckrodt, which uses the powder to make a numbing agent for dentists.The Maywood-based facility has been using coca leaves for its soft drink for more than 100 years and managed to renew its license to import the leaves recently.
Importing coca leaves into the US was declared illegal in 1921, but somehow the legislation was amended to exclude imports to Maywood Chemical Works, which ran the factory before the current owners bought it in 1959. This exemption allowed Coca-Cola to continue production in North America and grow its business into a global brand, worth an estimated $265 billion .
“Coca-Cola’s success as the mega-company it is today is due, at least in part, to special privileges granted by government during World War II, and the suppression of potential competitors in the early years of Harry Anslinger’s anti-drug policies.” At a time when the ‘war n drugs’ was just kicking off, the company’s exemption from drug legislation caused some concern for the owners and archival letters between the two indicated that they wanted all stories about their importing of the ‘drug’ to be suppressed, fearing the publicity it would bring them. The DEA seemed to agree at the time.