Canna Cola: Pot goes pop with medical-marijuana soda

We wrote about the rise of relaxation drinks and profiled the surfer-dude founder behind Just Chill in our Chill Issue last year, but one entrepreneur may be going the beverages one better. Clay Butler is the founder of a marijuana-themed line of sodas, including “Canna Cola, the Dr Pepper-like Doc Weed, the lemon-lime Sour Diesel, the grape-flavored Grape Ape and the orange-flavored Orange Kush,” according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel. While Butler, a self-described “clean-living guy,” claims he doesn’t smoke, he’s hoping to get his THC-containing drinks into California dispensaries this spring.

At $10-$15 a bottle, the drinks don’t come cheap. Another potential issue: SB 258, a bill in Congress dubbed the “Brownie Law,” which would take aim at marijuana-related “candy” products with increased fines. Whether or not Canna Cola and its brethren would fall under the law remains to be seen. But in the meantime, pot soda is making its way here. What do you think, Brand Xers? Does Canna Cola sound like the real thing?

— David Greenwald