Snortable Chocolate Hits US Market Offering Users A Legal Way To Get High
In an attempt to get legally high, some people have resorted to snorting the unexpected: chocolate powder.
A version of the product, called Coco Loko, provides a drug-free way to get a rush of energy and to feel calm and focused, according to the website of the Orlando-based company Legal Lean.
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Upon snorting the powder, you feel “almost like an energy-drink feeling, like you’re euphoric but also motivated to get things done,” Nick Anderson, the founder of Legal Lean, told The Washington Post.
After learning of the chocolate-sniffing trend, Anderson decided to order a sample from Europe, and shortly after trying it out, he was in the development process of his own “raw cacao snuff.” After about 10 attempts and two months later, he concocted a mixture he was satisfied with.
“Some versions, they just burned too much,” he said. “Other times they looked gray and dull, or didn’t have enough stimulants.”
In addition to raw cacao, the brown powder’s label says it also contains B vitamins, ginkgo biloba, L-Arginine (an amino acid), plus guarana and taurine, which are stimulants commonly found in energy drinks.
The powder, which looks similar to hot chocolate mix, is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As far as the risks that may come along with using the product, it’s not quite known.
“There’s no data, and as far as I can tell, no one’s studied what happens if you inhale chocolate into your nose,” Dr. Andrew Lane told The Washington Post. “When I mention it to people, nobody’s ever heard of it.”
The trend has been around for a few years, having originally gained popularity at rave venues across Europe. In Berlin, during an event called Lucid, raw cacao and other “high vibe medicines” are served instead of alcohol, Medical Daily previously reported.
“Raw cacao will give you a steady rush of euphoric energy and motivation that is great for party goers to dance the night away without a crash,” the Legal Lean website claims, which sells tins of Coco Loko for $24.99. “[It] will give you a sense of calm focus and reduce the chatter worry in your brain so you are able to accomplish many tasks at once.”
Cacao (not to be confused with cocoa) is a raw, unprocessed form of chocolate that comes from the Theobroma cacao tree. Unlike cocoa, which is heavily processed, cacao is roasted at a lower temperature, which allows more of its nutrients to be maintained. Cacao powder is also much less sweet than the chocolate most people are familiar with.
