CONTROVERSIAL LIQUEUR TARGETS MANITOBA FOR SALES

Cocaine? Viagra? Or After-Dinner Drink?

A CONTROVERSIAL liqueur that has been called cocaine in a bottle and
has a reputation as an aphrodisiac and energy drink is looking for
space on Manitoba shelves.

The Liquor Control Commission will discuss next week whether Agwa -- a
green spirit made from coca leaves, guarana and ginseng -- should be
sold here.

The liquor has caused a stir in Britain, where the Bishop of Brighton
gave it the "cocaine in a bottle" label, and in Ontario, where the
Alcohol and Gaming Commission wants changes made to the product's Web
site.

"Agwa is an herbal liqueur," says Andrew Stodart, who is importing the
drink and has been selling it in Ontario and Alberta for about six
months. "It doesn't contain cocaine. It's a perfectly legal product."

Kerin Hawkins, spokeswoman for the Liquor Control Commission, said the
listing committee meets next week to decide on whether to start
selling a number of new alcoholic beverages, including Agwa.

"They look at all the factors, including controversy," she
said.

A pharmaceutical company in Holland steeps the coca leaves to extract
the flavour, and the company then extracts the cocaine for use in
medicinal products. The company was originally using a distiller in
Italy -- where the bales of coca leaves would be escorted from the
airport by armed guards -- until local police were alarmed by the
amount coming in, Stodart said.

Agwa's main ingredients are beneficial in a number of ways, Stodart
said. The guarana contains a high level of caffeine, the coca leaves
dilate the blood vessels for increased oxygen flow which leads to more
energy and the ginseng contributes to the drink's nickname -- Vi-agwa.

But Stodart said they're not allowed to claim the drink offers any
benefits, which is why he and the Web site list the properties of each
component.

Stories are accumulating about the beverage. Stodart, carrying a
bottle of Agwa, was stopped at the American border by a drug-sniffing
dog. Publications in England were reporting that the company was
playing up the drug connection with promotions that included the drink
being sold by "dealers", but Stodart said that didn't happen.

In Canada, the advertising uses a South American tree frog and plays
on the Vi-agwa implication.

"There is no drug connotation at all," Stodart said.

After articles ran in the Ottawa Citizen, the Ontario Alcohol and
Gaming Commission took a look at the Web site -- whose address appears
on the bottle -- and wants approval over customer's comments that
appear and links that appear on the site.

"The alcohol and gaming commission of Ontario has taken it upon
themselves to be the censor for the world," he said, adding he's
consulting with a lawyer.

But the negative publicity hasn't hurt, he admits. After the Citizen
articles appeared, sales in Ontario went from between 25 and 50 cases
a month to 200 in a week.