Video fuels speculation Coca-Cola plans to offer a cannabis drink

Brandon Kochkodin and Deena Shanker, Bloomberg

Speculation that Coca-Cola Co. is eyeing the cannabis drinks market is picking up steam yet again.

A video posted to YouTube – since deleted – by a user with the screen name “Gabor the Blind Guy” purportedly shows a Coca-Cola can with a childproof lid. The man in the video says that his father is a head engineer for a company that “produces bottling and capping machines for many major pharmaceutical and food companies.”

He then says that Coca-Cola is planning on debuting a new line of its classic drink in Canada that will feature CBD extract, the non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that treats pain but doesn’t get you high.

Representatives from Coca-Cola didn’t immediately answer questions from Bloomberg News on the company’s plans to create a CBD drink and partner with a cannabis company.

A saved copy of the video was posted on Reddit Inc.’s WallStreetBets forum.

Coca-Cola said in 2018 that it was looking at the cannabis drinks market. The news fueled stock gains for companies like Aurora Cannabis Inc. The Atlanta-based soft drinks maker was in talks with Canadian marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis to develop the beverages, according to a report at the time from BNN Bloomberg Television.

Aurora did not respond to inquiries from Bloomberg News on Thursday about a possible partnership with Coca-Cola.

Shares of Aurora and Coca-Cola rose on Thursday.

Read more from the source: DetroitNews.com