Coca Cola began as an imitation of a popular French coca wine in the late 1800s. John Styth Pemberton created a cocaine-laced cola drink in his Atlanta laboratory to emulate the coca wine's success, but had to remove the alcohol and later the cocaine due to new laws. While Pemberton and his family met misfortune, Coca Cola was able to use new highway systems to distribute their product worldwide despite the health criticisms, becoming very popular through widespread consumption.