Coca Cola Bug Eyes - © Coca Cola

Coca Cola To Get Into Weed Bevs?

There’s word from Atlanta – the home of Coca Cola – that the company may be preparing to enter the Cannabis-infused beverages market. Discussions are apparently under way with Canadian grower Aurora Cannabis that could see Coke surge to the fore as the first mass-marketer of Cannabis drinks…

Coke and Weed - © Public DomainCoke may be headed into the booming Cannabis beverage sector…

When Coca Cola first came on the scene, in 1886, it was intended as a patent medicine. The medicinal ingredients were Coca leaves (from which Cocaine is extracted) and Kola nuts (which contain Caffeine). But it soon became a popular recreational drink and the Coca Cola Company, established in 1892 and, as the hack writers love to say, never looked back.

Now, after more than 130 years, Coke is looking seriously at getting into the medicinal beverage business again, with Cannabis-in fused drinks.

A little history…

Cannabis has been touted as medicinal since it went big in the 1960s. Medicinal users claim it eases chronic pain, seizures and tremors and cramps, and glaucoma sufferers say it eases the pain of their affliction, which is caused by increased pressure in the eye ball. One of the most well-known uses of medical Marijuana is in reducing the pain and nausea following chemotherapy.

No wonder Coke is looking at marketing Cannabis-infused drinks as ‘health-focused’

The new Midol?

By concentrating on the benefits of Weed in alleviating pain, cramps and inflammation, Coke may be seen as positioning its planned Cannabis drinks as female-targeted products. This will no doubt outrage feminists and other women’s rights activists who will probably call it an exploitative move. But, with all the other proven and claimed potential uses for them, Cannabis drinks should appeal to those who can legally buy them as an acceptable alternative to smoking their meds.

And, of course, millions will consume Cannabis beverages regularly for ‘recreational purposes’.

The business picture…

Marijuana became legal for recreational use across Canada earlier this year, and retailing is set to begin next month. Many U.S. states have also legalized Weed. So, we appear to be at a pivotal point, on the doorstep of the opening of an incredibly lucrative world-wide market for Cannabis-infused beverages.

The first global player to get into that game will doubtless become the market leader and big winner. And it appears that Coca Cola is on the fast track…

~ Maggie J.