Merchandise No. 5 :

[Talon]

in Coca Cola...

I had heard about this from a narcotics detective many years ago. I thought it was probably an old wives tale, but looks like it's true... 21 Billion dollars of coca leaves are imported every year to make Coke.

http://personalliberty.com/merchandise-no-5/

"Coke began taking cocaine out of its formula in 1903 and became completely cocaine-free in 1929, but coca leaf extract is still used as an active ingredient. The ecgonine alkaloid, which gives cocaine its effect on the brain, is extracted from the coca leaf before processing.
The Stepan Corporation, a New Jersey-based chemical processing company, performs the extraction on the coca leaves. Stepan has an arrangement with the Drug Enforcement Agency and is the only company allowed to legally import the coca leaf into the United States. Stepan imports 175,000 kilograms of coca leaves into the United States each year. That is a street value equivalent to roughly $21 billion of cocaine, according to the United Nations.


After the cocaine is processed by Stepan it is hauled away from the facility in armored trucks and then sold to Mallinckrodt, a pharmaceutical company whose United States headquarters are based in St. Louis, Missouri. Mallinckrodt uses it to manufacture cocaine hydrochloride U.S.P., which is used as a local anesthetic for eye, ear or throat surgeries.
The coca leaf extract is referred to as Merchandise No. 5."


The recipe was published in 1979
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radi...-recipe/recipe

Everett Beal's Recipe Book In Feb 28, 1979 Article Atlanta Journal and Constitution Newspaper	Pemberton's Notebook Published in the 1992 History: For God, Country & Coca-Cola
FE Coca (Fluid Extract of Coca)	3 drams USP	4 oz FE Coco

[Talon]

http://www.naturalnews.com/032658_Coca-Cola_cocaine.html

"Approximately 100 metric tons of coca leaves are imported to the Stepan Company each year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Company) under "special permission" from the DEA. Keep all this in mind when you consider the total fraud of the current "War on Drugs" and how young African American men are given ten-year prison sentences for pot possession while one of the largest corporations in America is actually importing leaves that are used to manufacture cocaine.

Once the coca leaves are imported into the USA under these special permissions from the DEA, the cocaine is extracted out of the coca leaves. Coca-Cola doesn't use the cocaine, you see. There is no cocaine in Coca-Cola today.

This brings up an obvious question: Where does all the white powder cocaine go if not to Coca-Cola? It turns out that this cocaine is sold to a St. Louis company called Mallinckrodt Incorporated.

Mallinckrodt receives not only all the cocaine from the Coca-Cola imports, but also imports opium from India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallinckrodt). In addition, this company also buys THC extracted from marijuana grown in the United States. So much for the War on Drugs, huh? It turns out if you buddy up to the DEA and federal regulators, you can make all the cocaine you want while buying opium and marijuana by the ton -- as long as you're a powerful corporation with ties to Coca-Cola and other wealthy organizations."

[Talon]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Company

"Coca extraction

Coca-Cola includes as an ingredient a coca leaf extract prepared by a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey.^[2] The facility, which had been known as the Maywood Chemical Works, was purchased by Stepan in 1959.^[3] The plant is the only commercial entity in the USA authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to import coca leaves, which come primarily from Peru. Approximately 100 metric tons of dried coca leaf are imported each year. The cocaine-free leaves are sold to The Coca Cola Company, while the cocaine is sold toMallinckrodt, a pharmaceutical firm, for medicinal purposes."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallinckrodt

"Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, based in Dublin, Ireland, with its U.S. headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, produces specialty pharmaceutical products, including generic drugs and imaging agents.^[1]
Mallinckrodt manufactures and distributes products used in diagnostic procedures and in the treatment of pain and related conditions. This includes the development, manufacture and distribution of specialty pharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients, contrast products and radiopharmaceuticals. The company employs 5,500 at 47 locations around the world. Net sales were $2 billion in 2011."

[Talon]

NYT on the subject

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/bu...-its-coca.html


"This week, details of how Coca-Cola obtains the coca and how it is processed emerged from interviews with Government officials and scientists involved in drug research programs. They identified the Illinois-based Stepan Company as the importer and processor of the coca used in Coke. After Stepan officials acknowledged their ties to Coca-Cola, the soft drink giant confirmed those details of its operations. Coca-Cola's Comment
In a telephone interview from Coca-Cola's Atlanta headquarters, Randy Donaldson, a company spokesman, said, ''Ingredients from the coca leaf are used, but there is no cocaine in it and it is all tightly overseen by regulatory authorities.''


"A Stepan laboratory in Maywood, N.J., is the nation's only legal commercial importer of coca leaves, which it obtains mainly from Peru and, to a lesser extent, Bolivia.
Besides producing the coca flavoring agent for Coca-Cola, Stepan extracts cocaine from the coca leaves, which it sells to Mallinckrodt Inc., a St. Louis pharmaceutical manufacturer that is the only company in the United States licensed to purify the product for medicinal use.
During the 1980's, imports of coca by Stepan have ranged from 56 metric tons to 588 metric tons a year, according to figures from the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Some coca cultivation is still permitted in Peru, where coca leaves have been both chewed and brewed into teas for centuries. However, the United States has been pressuring Peru and other countries to eradicate the plant and substitute other crops.
Mr. Donaldson declined to discuss whether the Reagan Administration's planned attempt to reduce South American coca growing could have an impact on the company and the formula used to make its soft drink."

[Talon]

[Talon]

Recap:

1. Coca Cola uses coca leaf extract in it's recipe.

2. The coca leaves reportedly come "mainly" from Bolivia and Peru by the 100's of metric tons.

3. The leaves are imported by Stephan laboratories in Maywood, NJ by special DEA licensing.

4. The cocaine that is extracted from the leaves is sold to Mallinckrodt Inc., in St. Louis, a pharmaceutical manufacturer that is the only company in the United States licensed to purify the product for medicinal use.

5. The "war on drugs" is a farce.

[Woods Devil]

So the Stepan Company is allowed to import and process the raw cocaine and it is strictly controlled. Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals is allowed to process the purified cocaine into medical drugs. Coca Cola is allowed to continue to use the coca flavoring in their soft drink but not the cocaine.

Sounds fair enough to me. It's processed by people who know what they are doing, taxes are paid and those with legitimate medical needs have those needs met.

[Talon]

http://www.medicinenet.com/cocaine_h...al/article.htm


"DRUG CLASS AND MECHANISM: Cocaine is a naturally occurring chemical found in the leaves of Erythroxylum coca or coca plant, which is native to South America. Coca leaves have been used and abused for hundreds of years. Cocaine is a highly addictive stimulant drug that directly affects the nervous system, including the brain. Effects of cocaine include short-termeuphoria, energy, talkativeness, and it may cause dangerous increases in heart rate and blood pressure.

Cocaine acts as a local anesthetic by blocking conduction of nerve impulses. Topical preparations of cocaine hydrochloride are applied to the lining of the mouth, nose, and throat prior to certain surgical procedures as a local anesthetic to numb the area. Numbing the surrounding area(s) allows certain types of surgical procedures without causing pain or discomfort to the patient. Although cocaine works very well to provide local aesthetic effects, the risk for abuse and severe local vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels) prevents its widespread clinical use. Cocaine is a schedule II controlled substance, which means that it has a high potential for abuse. However, cocaine can be prescribed by a doctor to be used as a local anesthetic in certain cases of eye, ear, or throat surgeries."

[Talon]

I'll address this in a new thread, so I can lay my case out.

So the Stepan Company is allowed to import and process the raw cocaine and it is strictly controlled. Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals is allowed to process the purified cocaine into medical drugs. Coca Cola is allowed to continue to use the coca flavoring in their soft drink but not the cocaine.

Sounds fair enough to me. It's processed by people who know what they are doing, taxes are paid and those with legitimate medical needs have those needs met.

[gamgee]

That's why Coke is better than Pepsi.

[Woods Devil]

I'll address this in a new thread, so I can lay my case out.

According to one of your links they are processing a lot more than is needed for the limited medicinal applications but I figured they might me processing enough to meet the needs of Coke. If that is the case I would be interested in knowing what they do with the extra cocaine.

[Talon]

According to one of your links they are processing a lot more than is needed for the limited medicinal applications but I figured they might me processing enough to meet the needs of Coke. If that is the case I would be interested in knowing what they do with the extra cocaine.

[Woods Devil]

I'll address this in a new thread, so I can lay my case out.

Looking forward to the next thread. I have a couple of thoughts on the subject and they are probably all wrong but I guess I'll share them there. Regarding those who choose to use for whatever reason I really don't care if adults walk around with a pocket full of coca leaves to chew when they need a pick me up or even if they grow it in their own back yards as long as they take measures to keep it away from minors and get some kind of permit. I like some caffeine in the morning myself so who am I to deny others if they need something.

[gamgee]

One reason that people in northern climates are generally more advanced than people in warmer climates is that most drugs can't be grown in the cold.

[Mayaca]

One reason that people in northern climates are generally more advanced than people in warmer climates is that most drugs can't be grown in the cold.

Bigotry against the southrens. Typical.