How Much Cocaine was in Coca-Cola? | Smartest Year Ever (Sept 12, 2025)

Did Coca-Cola really used to contain cocaine—and if so, how much was actually in every bottle? Gordy dives into the wild history of the world’s most iconic soft drink, tracing it back to its 19th-century origins as a coca-leaf tonic created by a morphine-addicted pharmacist. From Sigmund Freud’s praise of cocaine to the federal lawsuit United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola, this episode uncovers how the drink went from a controversial cocaine soda to a global brand that still secretly relies on coca leaf imports today.

Along the way, Gordy reveals the little-known story of the Stepan Company, the only U.S. firm legally allowed to import coca leaves, and how Coca-Cola’s unique flavor still depends on a carefully controlled process that links New Jersey to the Andes.

This is the untold story of how a once-drug-laced tonic became the most famous beverage on Earth.

Sources:

Pendergrast, M. (2000). For God, Country and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It. Basic Books.


Grinspoon, L., & Bakalar, J. B. (1976). Cocaine: A Drug and Its Social Evolution. Basic Books.


Musto, D. F. (1999). The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control. Oxford University Press.


Scripps News. (2024). Coca-Cola Still Uses Coca Leaves. Here’s How That’s Legal.


U.S. Food and Drug Administration archives. United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola (1911).


Stepan Company. (n.d.). Official documentation on coca import license.


Sahakian, B., & Morein-Zamir, S. (2007). Neuroethical issues in cognitive enhancement. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 21(2), 119–127.

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Music thanks to Zapsplat.