Lean or purple drank has become almost an epidemic in certain neighborhoods of the United States. The drink is a mixture of cough syrup with promethazine and codeine and sprite. Occasionally hard jolly rancher candy is added to increase sweetness. It is often abused and is an illegal use of a legal prescription based substance.

People use lean to relax, slow down and release their minds from their problems. The lean slows them down so much that many users report feeling motor skill impairment, lethargy, drowsiness and a feeling of being dissociated from the rest of their body. Many people report being addicted to lean, as it appears to produce signs of physical and psychological addiction.

The custom of drinking promethazine and codeine syrup to get high is a rather regional phenomenon that sprung up out of the Houston, Texas area. It began with people mixing cough syrup with their beer, which progressed to mixing it with booze and eventually somehow evolved to mixing with lemon-lime soda. A genre of Houston hip-hop artists popularized drinking lean with music from top hip-hop producer DJ Screw and others and ultimately went nationally commercial with the song “Sipping on Some Syrup” by 36 Mafia.

The top music artists in the world have been rumored to sip syrup and often appear in public carrying the signature white Styrofoam cup. Artists like Justin Bieber have reportedly been known to dabble with lean and Lil Wayne has even noted, in his songs, the addictive grip that purple drank had on him. This has definitely glamorized dirty sprite and brandished its reputation as something that is cool in the hip-hop and urban communities. It has even been said that it may increase creativity. However, a series of high-profile deaths in the hip-hop community has dampened the mood.

Commercial products, like Legal Lean, have been criticized for their potential to serve as gateways to the dangerous illegal concoction. But this overlooks the possibility that the individual might be using this natural product to replace and ween themselves off of the highly dangerous addictive purple drank. Non-alcoholic beer helps many people avoid the throes of alcohol addiction and lean sippers should have a safe, legal alternative too. The gateway argument is also clearly the argument of the greedy pharmaceutical companies that are benefitting from the illicit use of their highly profitable and addictive prescription cough syrups most prevalent in the African American community.

Legal lean uses a proprietary blend of natural herbal extracts and many common vitamins. Among the natural herbal ingredients are chamomile extract, lavender extract, valerian root, hops, St. John's wort, skullcap, and kava-kava extracts. Many of the herbal extracts are packed with vitamins, minerals and amino acids. For example, rose hips are rich in vitamins C, E, and K. Legal Lean also has amino acids and vitamins. It has two amino acids that are naturally occurring in the body: L-theanine and melatonin. These two amino acids work together to provide the desired effect alongside four common B-vitamins: B3, B5, B6, and B12. Legal Lean comes in two flavors, Grape and Cherry.

Legal Lean gives people the option to choose a safe, legal alternative to lean. Plus, Legal Lean doesn’t contain codeine or promethazine. So there is no suppression of the respiratory system or circulatory system. I am passionate about protecting the youth of America and society should be adamant about young people having a safe, legal alternative when they want to slow down and relax!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

**The beliefs and opinions expressed in this blog are not those of Waterbeds ‘n’ Stuff.