The US government once poisoned alcohol to get people to stop drinking
The US government once poisoned alcohol to get people to stop drinking During Prohibition the U.S. government required poison added to industrial alcohol to prevent people from drinking it. People drank it anyway. Over 10,000 died. Google: Tainted Alcohol Prohibition In 1926, the federal government increased the amount of methanol, a poisonous alcohol-based substance, required in industrial alcohols, which people at the time used to make bootleg liquor. Faced with the ongoing failure of Prohibition, the increase was intended to discourage people from drinking. "It gives a greater warning to the drinker that he is getting hold of something that he should leave alone," a government chemist told the New York Times at the time. But people didn't stop drinking. Thirsty for any booze they could get, many Americans risked drinking the super-poisoned alcohol — and thousands died as a result. Even before Prohibition, the government required industrial alcohol manufacture...