Cocaine is regarded today as a major social evil and as a medical problem of vast
proportions. Only a century ago, however, cocaine was believed to be a harmless stimulant
and cure-all. Highly respectable scientists such as psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud
experimented with cocaine. The original 1886 formula for Coca-Cola included three parts
coca leaves (the source of cocaine) to one part cola nut. The original Coca-Cola was
advertised not only as a refreshing beverage, but as a medicine to “cure all nervous
afflictions—Sick Headache, Neuralgia, Hysteria, Melancholy, etc.”