The Bitter Truth: Coca-Cola, Race, and the War on Drugs

by Martha Aguilar

July 2nd, 2023

When I think of Coca-Cola, I think of one of the most recognizable symbols of American culture. But what most people don’t know is that it has a much darker history. Coca-Cola once contained cocaine, a fact that ties directly into the racial injustices shaping America’s drug laws.

At the heart of the drug prohibition movement is race. Drug laws weren’t created out of a genuine concern for public health—they were driven by the need to control communities of color. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, drugs like narcotics and cocaine were widely used. Back then, these substances weren’t criminalized, but things changed when people of color—especially Black Americans and Mexican immigrants—became the focus.

The War on Drugs wasn’t about protecting society, it was about scapegoating marginalized communities. Marijuana wasn’t banned until the 1930s, and even then, it was used to criminalize Mexican migrant farm workers. The same thing happened with cocaine and Black communities, even though wealthier white women were actually some of the highest users of the drug.

Cocaine didn’t become a criminal substance until Southern police and civic leaders created a moral panic around Black Americans using it. They blamed crime and riots on cocaine, reinforcing racist stereotypes and making Black people the face of addiction. Meanwhile, doctors were freely prescribing cocaine to their patients to treat other addictions, perpetuating the cycle.

In 1914, the Harrison Narcotics Act was passed to regulate drugs like cocaine and heroin. However, doctors found ways around it, legally prescribing drugs in poverty-stricken areas where people of color were most vulnerable. Coca-Cola, which had traces of cocaine in its formula until 1903, was sold to these very communities, making it easy for Black Americans to access—and get criminalized for.

Statistics from the time tell the real story. In 1912, Dr. Charles Terry’s clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, revealed that out of 646 addicts, 416 were white and only 230 were Black. The majority of those addicts were white women. Yet, the narrative focused on criminalizing Black and brown people, as if they were the ones driving drug use.

The truth is, the War on Drugs wasn’t just about drugs—it was about controlling people. It was about keeping racial and social hierarchies intact. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan and other nativists worked with the government to enforce drug laws, framing them as a way to preserve “moral values.”

Race has always played a huge role in America’s drug policies. The fear of Black power and sexuality fueled the need to control Black bodies through racial oppression and drug prohibition. These two systems—Jim Crow and the War on Drugs—fed into each other, ensuring that racial inequality was maintained.

If we acknowledge this history, we can see how deeply rooted racism is in America’s systems. If we don’t, we’re doomed to repeat it. The consequences of these past actions still affect us today, as racial disparities in drug-related arrests and incarceration continue to impact communities of color.

This isn’t just something that happened in the past—it’s happening now. The War on Drugs has always disproportionately affected communities of color, and understanding this history is the key to changing it.