‘It’s just really disturbing’: ‘Cocaine’ drink sold in Durham sparks community concerns

The marketing of energy drinks has been a high concern recently, with government officials in New York asking the Food and Drug Administration to investigate PRIME energy drinks.

But here in Durham, North Carolina, a different drink is sparking calls to action. It is one that the FDA already had on its radar, and the concern comes from its brand name: Cocaine.

“It’s just really disturbing,” said Sharahn Campbell, a mother of four who has lived in the Durham area for four years.

She first heard about Cocaine Energy from Paul Scott, a minister and local activist who has been working to get the drink off shelves. When he told her a drink called Cocaine was being sold at her local Compare Foods, she thought it had to be a joke. Why would a drink named after such a destructive drug be sold in her community, she wondered.

“A lot of people struggle with opioid use. You’ve got meth, we’ve just barely gotten through the crack epidemic and now we’re in the throes of fentanyl,” she said. “And here you have a drink glamorizing drug use being sold at a local grocery store.”

Campbell said seeing the Cocaine Energy drink being sold in stores was triggering.

“My father was a drug user, and at the time I was a kid,” she said. “They didn’t have programs then to help people. You were criminalized if you were a drug user.”

By the time her father was able to get into treatment, he had AIDS and was too sick to go anywhere. But Campbell said that didn’t stop dealers from trying to sell him drugs in his home.

“They were in it to make money,” she said. “Just like whoever is marketing this drink is in it to make money. They don’t care about the influence that they have.”

‘Speed in a can’

When Cocaine Energy was launched in 2006, it was marketed as “speed in a can,” “liquid cocaine,” and had a disclaimer that said it “may result in excess excitement, stamina, fun and possible feeling of euphoria.”

After less than a year of the product being on shelves, the FDA sent Redux Beverages (now Hype Beverages) a letter stating it was advertising Cocaine Energy as an “illicit street drug alternative” and that type of marketing was illegal.

At the time, co-founder Hannah Kirby told news outlets the name and branding were meant to be “tongue-in-cheek” and that they hoped to set it apart from other products.

Hype Beverages did not respond by deadline to The News & Observer’s request for an interview for this article.

Today, the company has removed “liquid cocaine” and “speed in a can” from its marketing and changed its disclaimer statement on the back of the can. It kept the brand name.

But questions about Cocaine Energy’s marketing didn’t stop back in 2007.

In December, Truth in Advertising sent Hype Beverages a letter urging the company to review its marketing.

The letter was part of a partnership with the University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health and was sent to about 40 energy drink companies across the U.S.

Frances Fleming-Milici, director of marketing initiatives for the Rudd Center, said they found companies targeting children with bright colors, candy-like flavoring and enticing brand names.

“The marketing is directed to kids, so it can really be under the radar of parents,” she said. “Companies aren’t in spaces where parents see these products. ... We know that kids are drinking these and going to the emergency room.”

‘Heart attack in a can’

Wanda Boone is the founder of Together for Resilient Youth, a Durham-based coalition that works to prevent substance abuse, chronic disease and violence among young people. Energy drinks can be particularly harmful to children because of how much caffeine they contain, she said.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children ages 12 to 18 shouldn’t have more than 100 mg of caffeine per day. A typical can of soda has 30 to 40 mg of caffeine. Coffee has about 95 mg on average. A standard 12 ounce can of Cocaine Energy has 280 mg.

Last week, Boone alerted the community about the drink on Facebook and asked members of her coalition if they’ve seen it in any convenience stores.

Campbell said Cocaine Energy’s caffeine content is like a “heart attack in a can” for children.

“A student studying for a final, they might drink a Red Bull trying to stay awake,” Campbell said. “But if they saw something that promised to keep them awake even more, they might drink a couple of those, and that level of caffeine is not good for you. For them to be selling it in a supermarket, it’s deeply concerning.”

A standard 8.4 ounce can of Red Bull has 80 mg of caffeine.

To Campbell, an even bigger issue lies in Cocaine Energy’s marketing.

Cocaine Energy’s main website features two commercials. One shows a group of three adults — what appears to be two people of color and one white person — drinking Cocaine Energy while standing in front of a lime green sports car. The other shows a Black man skating and drinking Cocaine in a skate park.

“I feel like these [commercials] are specifically targeting young people that are Black and Brown,” she said. “I think there’s maybe one white person in it. But the fact that it’s in an urban community grocery store, I don’t know if that was deliberate, but that was kind of what disturbed me.”

Compare Foods is part of the Aurora Grocery Group, which has 24 Hispanic grocery stores in North Carolina, Massachusetts and the tri-state area.

The News & Observer visited the Compare Foods store in Durham and four other nearby stores: a BP gas station, Food Lion, Food World and Whole Foods. Cocaine Energy was only seen in Compare Foods.

Earlier this month, Campbell and Scott made a video to inspire other community members to speak out against the drink being sold in Durham.

“I want to see a national boycott,” Scott said. “If we don’t wipe this out nationally, it will keep popping up.”

Campbell also wants the drink eradicated, or at least out of stores.

“If they really want people to have it, they should market it online,” she said. “But I don’t think it should be in a local grocery store where a 14-year-old girl or boy can walk in and purchase it trying to be cool.”

“We’re trying to get kids away from [drugs] and this drink is making it seem trendy,” she continued. “There’s nothing cool about consuming a drug.”