Three part story. And, as it is on Medium (yuck), archive links are provided should the Medium links go hidden or disappear:
Part 1: The Cocainemaker, Reefer Madness, and the Vice-President of The Coca-Cola Company
https://rmcortes.medium.com/the-cocainemaker-reefer-madness-and-the-vice-president-of-the-coca-cola-company-e1b39e65b63c#.b43mv3bzh
Archive Link: https://archive.is/rdUt2
Part 2: How Coca-Cola Changed the World for Coca
https://rmcortes.medium.com/how-coke-changed-the-world-for-coca-95ccec58193b#.xa0rcxrdi
Archive link: https://archive.is/gbQeo
Part 3: I Wasn't the First Person to Find the NJ Cocaine Factory
https://rmcortes.medium.com/i-wasnt-the-first-to-find-the-nj-cocaine-factory-5f37aed74776
Archive link: https://archive.is/XypPx
In 1886, a pharmacist named Dr. John Pemberton mixed extract of the green coca leaf — containing the recently discovered marvel of cocaine — with the caffeine kick of West African kola nuts, making a "Brain Workers' Panacea" tonic called Coca-Cola.
Touted to relieve mental and physical exhaustion, "Coke" arrived alongside a wave of cocaine products advertised to ease toothaches and labor pains. Cocaine was said to cure fatigue, nervousness, impotence, even addiction to morphine.
But the medical miracle soon changed into the story of a crime epidemic. Cocaine's addictive properties were discovered and its increased availability fueled racial fears: cocaine made Negroes insane and murderous; Jewish doctors were identified as its peddlers.
The United States began prohibition of coca leaf, along with the cocaine it produces, with the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914.
(Score: 4, Touché) by looorg on Sunday August 11 2024, @10:48AM (2 children)
I gather his book didn't sell very well? Which is why he had to turn part of it into a three article show and tell. Lots of pictures of letters. Hinting at a conspiracy. Or he desperately wants there to be one. Very little actual writing on his part. I don't think it really added anything new to the coca, cocaine and coca-cola story that was not already known. I can in that regard understand why there is low interest for the book.
After looking it over I to yearn for some cocaine cause this was not very exciting. I need a pick me up. Anything to flush this out of my mind.
(Score: 2) by Username on Sunday August 11 2024, @01:40PM (1 child)
The way it's written, I'm surprised they didn't blame Trump or the far right. Reads like most left opinion peices.
(Score: 5, Informative) by looorg on Sunday August 11 2024, @02:18PM
That might have been over the top. But I'm sure he wants to at least strongly hint to them being old, white, republican and men. In some kind of grand conspiracy. Which I guess wouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone. After all the letters are all from the early to late 1940's. Most people in government and business at the time probably ticked at least three out of four of those boxes if not all of them.
But he clearly though that he was on to something, that he would shed new light on something that was already a thing and known. A new angle. That somehow was missed before but wasn't. While doing his research he found correspondence that indicate that someone else tried to do this all before. This entire three part series is about that correspondence and how it went nowhere. All involved smelled out the ulterior motives back then to and talked/wrote letters to each other about it. Do you know who this man is, have the magazine ordered an article about it, we never heard of him either, he wrote to us to etc. Which he, current author, seems to want to pump into some kind of grand coke conspiracy. About the evil white corporate stooges/men keeping the poor Peruvian coca chewers down. Or something to that effect.
After all it can't be a great surprise to anyone that the Coca-Cola company doesn't want to talk about Cocaine, and addiction. Not then, not now, not ever. They want to sell coke with images of Santa or young hot babes and dudes on the beach. Not cocaine addicts. There is no coke-chic look that sells soft-drinks.
If anything the story here should be that back in ye' olden days of the 1940's people wrote actual letters to each other, or their secretaries wrote them for them to sign. They are all very polite when you read them. It's kind of fun to read in that regard. But his new conspiracy theory? Nothing of value or knowledge was added to that story in that regard.
You can order a signed copy of the book for less then $14! Book might be a bit generous since it's 64 pages and if the articles are any hint most of it will be pictures and drawings. So I gather it's mostly a picture book with some words sprinkled in between. Not much of a read in that regard.
https://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/a-secret-history-of-coffee-coca-cola/ [akashicbooks.com]
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday August 11 2024, @03:06PM
I was not paying attention to the details. I blame it on me not getting enough coke, either version. The article is like eight years old and the book was published in 2012. So a valid question is perhaps why it made the news, or the submission here, now? It's not blaming anything or anyone, old can be interesting. I'm just curious to how it popped up now.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by quietus on Sunday August 11 2024, @03:35PM
If I recall correctly, the rum given to soldiers -- of both sides -- when they had to go 'over the top' during the first world war, was spiked with cocaine coming from this factory [wikipedia.org]. The usage of speed and amfetamines in the German army during the second world war is also well documented [time.com].
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 11 2024, @07:00PM
This particular article shows how coca was demonized, and how one particular company found an exemption to capitalize on coca. Cannabis has a similar history, in that it was outlawed for economic reasons, rather than it's addictive properties. (No, I don't want to dive into explaining who profited, how and why, at this time.) One day, we might expect dihydrogen monoxide to be banned, if only someone can figure out how to capitalize on the ban. It's always about money - money for government, money for corporations, money for the criminal element who are willing to smuggle whatever has been banned.
https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_parody [wikipedia.org]
I will point out that no one was ever convicted for being a Coka Cola addict. Nor have I ever read that any South Americans were addicted to chewing the leaves. It was only ever the refined cocaine that was a problem.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz