Pick Your Poison

Erythroxylon coca in William Martindale, Coca and Cocaine: Their History and Medical and Economic Uses, and Medicinal Preparations, 1892

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

BOTANICAL, Erythroxylon coca

In 1860, the alkaloid cocaine was isolated from coca leaves. English pharmacist William Martindale published his study on coca in response to contemporary medical interest in the use of cocaine. He noted the history of the use of coca leaves among South American Indians who chewed the leaves to stave off hunger and exhaustion.

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Fluid Extract Coca for medicinal use, ca. 1910

Courtesy National Museum of American History

CURATIVE, Medical Marvel

Cocaine was a breakthrough medical drug because of its application as a local anesthetic. By preventing pain even when the patient was awake, it made some types of surgery possible. Yet, physicians had begun to report on the drug’s tendency to create a habit, in which patients craved repeated doses.

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Advertisement for medicinal drops to relieve toothache, Lloyd Manufacturing Co., 1885

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

MARKET, Instantaneous Cure!

Before the 20th century, regulations did not require manufacturers of ready-made remedies to list ingredients in their medicines. Perhaps taking advantage of the popularity of the drug, Lloyd Manufacturing did advertise the cocaine in their toothache drops. The promised instantaneous relief was likely provided by the anesthetic properties of cocaine.

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Jules Chéret, lithographer, advertisement for Vin Mariani, 1894 (reproduction 1981)

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

MARKET, Tonic Wine

In the late 19th century, the typical cocaine user was a professional man who had been prescribed the drug or a physician administering his own doses. Coca wine was the most popular way to consume cocaine. Vin Mariani was the first coca wine product sold, and for a while, the most successful.

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Advertisement for Vin Mariani in the Provincial Medical Journal, 1890

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

MARKET, Tonic Wine

In the late 19th century, the typical cocaine user was a professional man who had been prescribed the drug or a physician administering his own doses. Coca wine was the most popular way to consume cocaine. Vin Mariani was the first coca wine product sold, and for a while, the most successful.

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Advertisement for Coca-Cola, 1890s

Courtesy Library of Congress

MARKET, Popular Refreshment

The coca wine Vin Mariani was overtaken in popularity by Coca-Cola. Pharmacist John Pemberton created the drink as a non-alcoholic alternative to his Peruvian Wine Coca, after prohibition was adopted in Atlanta in 1886. By the 1890s the drink had become so popular that numerous imitations, with names alluding to their coca content—such as Koke, Cafe-Cola, and Kos-Kola—flooded the market.

Coca-Cola glasses

Courtesy National Museum of American History

MARKET, Popular Refreshment

The coca wine Vin Mariani was overtaken in popularity by Coca-Cola. Pharmacist John Pemberton created the drink as a non-alcoholic alternative to his Peruvian Wine Coca, after prohibition was adopted in Atlanta in 1886. By the 1890s the drink had become so popular that numerous imitations, with names alluding to their coca content—such as Koke, Cafe-Cola, and Kos-Kola—flooded the market.

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“Natives of Columbia chewing coca” from Angelo Mariani, COCA and its Therapeutic Application, 1896

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

CONSUMER, Coca Custom

South American Indians chewed coca leaves to stave off hunger and exhaustion. Waterfront laborers first sniffed cocaine in its powdered form to sustain their energy during long shifts loading and unloading ships. Employers distributed cocaine to miners, workers on plantations, construction crews, and factory employees, as a way to increase productivity.

Crack is Wack playground mural, Keith Haring, 1986

Courtesy © Keith Haring Foundation and Jonathan Kuhn/New York City Parks & Recreation

PROHIBITIVE, Crack is Wack

In the 1980s, a smokeable form of cocaine, known as crack, gained notoriety. While rival gangs fought violently for control of the illicit market, sensational media coverage blamed a crack epidemic for a rise in crime. The ensuing panic led to long prison sentences for users as well as dealers.

Crack, and pipes for smoking it, found in a cigarette box outside a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, late 20th century

Courtesy National Museum of American History

PROHIBITIVE, Crack is Wack

In the 1980s, a smokeable form of cocaine, known as crack, gained notoriety. While rival gangs fought violently for control of the illicit market, sensational media coverage blamed a crack epidemic for a rise in crime. The ensuing panic led to long prison sentences for users as well as dealers.

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