FDA Can't Regulate Drugs From Canada, But It Can Regulate The Names Of Energy Drinks

Las Vegas based Redux Beverages LLC was forced to pull its "Cocaine" energy drink line from the shelves of all stores nationwide. The company has been in a legal fight with bored extremist soccer moms, and the FDA, over the name of the beverage designed to give you a jolt of energy when needed.

Review Journal:

The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter last month that said Redux was illegally marketing the drink as a street drug alternative and a dietary supplement. Friday was the deadline for the company to respond.

The FDA cited the drink's labeling and Web site, which included the statements "Speed in a Can," "Liquid Cocaine" and "Cocaine -- Instant Rush." The company says Cocaine contains no drugs and is marketed as an energy drink. It has been sold since August in at least a dozen states.

It's nice to know that the FDA is doing something as of late to protect American's health. Of course, you'd have to be the worst kind of idiot to believe that Cocaine the drink was ... well ... cocaine. Since the FDA cited the Cocaine website I figured I would mosey on over, and check it out. Much to my surprise ... I found this:

The warning label (which I assume is also on the packaging) clearly states that Cocaine the drink is not, nor does it contain, any illegal substances.

"Our goal is to literally flush Cocaine down the drain across the nation," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who announced the company's agreement with his state Monday. "Our main complaint about Cocaine is its name and marketing strategy seeking to glorify illegal drug use and exploit the allure of marketing 'Speed in a Can,' as it called the product."

Uh, yeah ... if I spend $3 on an energy drink it better give me an energy boost like speed. That hardly makes me a speed fiend, and I find it hard to believe that an attorney general doesn't have better things to do than attack a product's name.

Just a side note here ... I wonder how many people have downed a Red Bull, and jumped off of a building thinking it would "give them wings?"

Rudux Beverages could have changed the spelling of Cocaine to possibly, and I stress possibly, avoid this kind of outrageous assault on free enterprise, but they were going for a shock value marketing scheme. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, and we see it all the time. Naming the beverage Cocaine was clearly a brilliant marketing gimmick, and it worked.

The truth is ... the FDA has been looking for a way to weasel their bureaucracy into the nutritional supplement market for years now. Cocaine provided them an opportunity.

I'm surprised that the involvement of the FDA in assaulting a company for the name of its product didn't spark more of a response of outrage from a number of people. This is, after all, a perfectly legal company with a perfectly legal product. Where's the pro-capitalist and free speech crowd?

There is also another form of outrage here. The FDA has been telling us that they can't regulate prescription drugs that come in from Canada. They've been claiming they don't have the resources to do so. Yet, somehow they have the resources to regulate the names of certain products? Talk about a misappropriation of priorities.

The FDA has no right to regulate the name of a product, and we have no right to censor a product's name unless it's profanity laced. Even then it's a difficult endeavor ... example: Fuct clothing line. At the end of the day people it's just a name, and it isn't going to make your kids do cocaine anymore than having hemp fabric in the house is going to make your kid smoke pot.