Talk:The Coca-Cola Company

Pemberton's addiction
I question the pertinence of mentioning Pemberton's addiction to Morphine in the lead. It seems out of context. It is mentioned, because he supposedly created Coca-Cola to try curing his addiction to morphine. Most books present a less definitive view, which is that we do not know for sure, but perhaps he was addicted to Morphine, because he was a veteran and most veterans were. They also present a lot more context to explain the link between addiction and Coca Cola. They explain that it was a typical business to create formula to cure all kind of diseases and addiction. The people in that business were called pharmacists and Pemberton (1831-1888) was a highly respected pharmacist, even interviewed by the press. They explain that, at the time, between 1884 and 1905, cocaine was praised by people like Sigmund Freud and well known politicians in the United States as a non addictive substance, even as a cure to addiction to morphine and many other problems. Like others, Pemberton praised cocaine, especially in his last years. The link between morphine and Coca-Cola is real, but these books do not reduce it to the personal addiction of Pemberton. Some do not even mention it and those who mention it still explain that above all Pemberton was a pharmacist in a typical business at the time. I am not saying that the story that Coca-Cola was invented by Pemberton to cure his personal addiction is not sourced. On the contrary, it is found in many web sites, but not in books written by academics. I find this puzzling. Why this dichotomy? From where comes from the popular story, which is not terribly false, and perhaps partially true, but misses the important global social context? I did not find any explanation. Dominic Mayers (talk) 04:34, 14 May 2024 (UTC)