Coca-Cola has dominated the soda industry for 126 years, but now, the company is looking into going back to its roots, sort of.
When the carbonated drink was first introduced in 1885, it included two main medicinal ingredients, coca leaf extract and kola nuts.
This gave way to claims that the addictive drink contains cocaine as coca leaf is the raw material from which the powerful stimulant is formulated.
Although, it is hard to determine just how much of the drug each bottle contained, but according to Snopes, before Coca-Cola became cocaine-free in 1929, the drink contained "as little as 1/400 of a grain of cocaine per ounce of syrup."
The traces of the drug weren't strong enough to get anyone high, but over a century later, the company is reportedly in talks to create a version of their carbonated beverage infused with a drug that could definitely get you feeling buzzed.
A new report by BNN Bloomberg recently revealed that the Coca-Cola Company is in talks with a Canadian cannabis firm, Aurora Cannabis Inc.
It appears that as the soda industry's sales are slowing down, Coca-Cola is trying to be one step ahead of the competition. One way they're doing this is by looking for ways to put the legalization of marijuana in Canada and parts of the United States to their advantage.
While there are no concrete plans for which direction they're planning to take, it seems like they're having internal discussions about creating a line of Coke drinks infused with CBD, which is a non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Basically, the beverage won't get you high, but you will still be able to reap benefits like pain, inflammation and cramp relief.
With the cannabis industry booming, it makes sense that the iconic beverage producer is trying to get in on the hype. Since news of these discussions broke, Aurora's stocks have increased by 22% and so have Coke's.
Both Aurora and Coke have released statements expressing their interest in cannabis-infused drinks, but they have not commented on the speculation about having talks between them.
If a partnership is formed, these potential new Coke drinks may find success in Canada, but in the United States, where the sale of cannabis remains illegal, getting past the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will prove to be a challenge.
Although it should be noted that the FDA recently approved a cannabis infused drug, and it did the same for GW Pharmaceuticals back in June for an epilepsy treatment containing marijuana.
Before Coca-Cola, it was reported that beer companies Molson Coors Brewing Co. and Diago have also been in talks with cannabis companies. Heineken is already ahead of the game as they have already launched a non-alcoholic drink containing marijuana under its Lagunitas brand.
