LOS ANGELES -- There's no marijuana in Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda, but the maker is riding on the drug's cachet to sell the beverage, one of several purportedly calming drinks made from plants long used as folk remedies, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
In Los Angeles, where medical marijuana dispensaries outnumber Starbucks and McDonald's restaurants combined, a mood-altering beverage with a cannabis-oriented marketing campaign is gaining traction.
Southern California has become the bestselling market for Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda, a sugary [image-nocss] drink laced with kava, a South Pacific root purported to have sedative properties, the report states.
Matt Moody, a Denver nutritional supplement developer who created the beverage, said the name is an unabashed reference to weed, though the relaxant compounds in kava are chemically unrelated to those in marijuana.
Along with drinks like Slow Cow and Ex Chill, Mary Jane's is part of a new group of so-called slow-down or anti-energy drinks, which are expected to be among the top food trends of 2010, according to advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, the newspaper reports.
They rely on folk-medicine sedatives, including kava, chamomile and valerian, to provide an alternative to caffeine-laced and jitter-inducing energy drinks such as Red Bull.
The drinks purportedly promote calming, and they also take on the energy-drink category directly by claiming also to boost mental focus and concentration, said Ann Mack, director of trend-spotting at the ad agency.
"It is a new category, kind of like energy drinks, but designed to relax people," Travis Arnesen, spokesperson for Ex Drinks of Henderson, Nev., told the newspaper. "Just recently it has been picking up steam."
The company's Ex Chill drink comes in an 8.4-ounce can that sells for $2 at Albertsons, 7-Eleven and some Bristol Farms markets. Slow Cow, made by Boisson Slow Cow Inc. of Quebec, Canada, plans to start distribution in the United States next year.
These relaxation drinks have become popular fodder for food bloggers, with some calling Mary Jane's "weed in a bottle."
There are no age limits or restrictions for consumers. Medical experts, however, caution that drinks containing kava and other supplements could have a downside, depending on the chemical compounds used as ingredients and how the plants are processed.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a consumer warning that people with "liver disease or liver problems, or persons who are taking drug products that can affect the liver, should consult a physician before using kava-containing supplements," the report states. But the agency has not restricted sales of kava-based products.
The warning hasn't dissuaded Kristie Richardson, a new mother from San Clemente, from using Mary Jane's to unwind after a difficult day of work at a medical systems company.
On the way home, Richardson frequently drops into a local 7-Eleven to pick up several bottles, which sell for $2.49 each. "I put my 7-month-old to bed, open up a Mary Jane's Soda and chill," Richardson said.
She described the drink as "sweet tea meets cola," and said "it helps me to unwind" and makes a good alternative to alcoholic beverages, which Richardson said she doesn't drink.
About 70% of Mary Jane's Soda Inc.'s retail sales are in Southern California, Moody told the newspaper. The drink's market is so concentrated in the region that Moody plans to move the business to the Inland Empire.
The 7-Eleven stores stocking Mary Jane's sell the product at a rate of about 14 bottles a day, which is considered a healthy pace for a niche beverage, Moody said. It also sells in scattered bars and cafes and online through theMary Jane's Soda website.
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