Drank: Slow Your Roll

I seem to have gone on some sort of a movie-blogging binge over the past couple of days, so I figure that today seems ideal to discuss the "pop" in pop culture. Well, only if you're in the western US. Otherwise the pun is lost on your who refer to this soft drink as "soda" or something of the like. You know, Coke, Mountain Dew, Pepsi- any of those carbonated beverages loaded with what Americans crave most: caffeine. Apparently though, in our increasingly fast-paced society, these conventional drinks just don't provide the level of energy that is required, so now whenever on strolls into a gas station they are confronted with towering fridges filled with brands such as Red Bull and Rockstar. Well, a Houston based company has apparently taken notice of our country's over-caffination, and devised an alternative. Notice- "alternative" rather than "substitute". It's called Drank and it's clever slogan is "Slow Your Roll". Drank is the anti-energy drink. 

Some of who hail from the South may be familiar with Drank in its primary manifestation as a recreational drug in the hip hop community. It usually is concocted with the use of cough syrup- and the excess codeine within it. Consuming an excess amount of Drank or cough syrup can cause an overly sedated and euphoric feeling with what some describe as "altered states of consciousness." Having personally sat next to a young man who daily chugged cough syrup as if it were his morning orange juice in an english course, from an outsider's perspective, it seems to lead to cold sweat, a pale complexion, and frequent trips to the bathroom. In fact, the drink leads to cardiac and respiratory arrest, a condition experienced by the very man who popularized the concoction and later died from its effects. 

The Houston-based Drank company is not illegally packaging cough syrup under a soft drink label. They (for what it's worth) have instead devised a mix of replacement ingredients; three of which are Melatonin, Valerian Root, and rose hips. For those without a degree in herbology, let me fill you in. Melatonin is a hormone already found in the human body. It has recently been utilized by companies as a dietary supplement- but only in the US. Use of the ingredient is still illegal in the EU and New Zealand. Melatonin is also frequently administered to those suffering from ADHD as a sleep aide, a treatment for depression and seasonal affective disorder and a fertility enhancement for women. It's basically a naturally occurring tranquilizer- with the small side affect of causing wildly vivid dreams to those who consume it. Valerian Roots go back in usage to ancient Greece and Rome as a mild sedative. In reality, the roots are not overly potent, and there are few side effects associated with them. Rose hips are a popular natural remedy to arthritis and urinary bladder infections. They are packed with vitamin C and sometimes used to cure colds. Drank certainly uses purely natural ingredients which suggest that it does what it advertises quite well. Of course, one might question the misuse of potent natural substitutes for chemical concoctions in both legal and ethical terms. However, for the moment, Drank is a new alternative to those pesky "energy" drinks for the consumer who just has too little to do.