“Cocaine on training wheels”

Beth Mole reports at ARS Technica,

Over the weekend, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer called upon the Food and Drug Administration to investigate the new “snortable” chocolate powder product, Coco Loko, made by Orlando-based company Legal Lean.

The powder, released last month, contains cacao powder as well as ingredients often found in energy drinks, including taurine, guarana, and ginkgo biloba. Legal Lean says that Coco Loko offers “euphoric energy and motivation,” and safely generates a state “similar to the feeling of ecstasy.” Doctors, however, are unsure of the health effects, including potential harm to the nasal passage. And Schumer, who is no stranger to criticizing caffeine-based stimulants, called the powder that presents dangers to children and should be ditched.

...Andrew Lane, director of the Johns Hopkins Sinus Center, told the Post that researchers have not conducted studies examining the safety, nasal absorption, and health effects of chocolate powder mixes intended for snorting. While Lane noted that snorting chocolate is probably better than snorting illicit drugs, the powder could block sinuses, act as a gateway to other drugs, and—as is the case with any energy product—cause heart palpitations and raise blood pressure.

Read more here.