The US government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition (2010)
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Re: The US government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition (2010)
#2Denatured alcohol (e.g., ethanol with added methanol to render it undrinkable) is still used today for industrial purposes since it's much cheaper than pure ethanol, which is heavily taxed:
Re: The US government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition (2010)
#3> As one of its most outspoken opponents, Charles Norris, the chief medical examiner of New York City during the 1920s, liked to say, it was "our national experiment in extermination."
One of their experiments.
Re: The US government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition (2010)
#4The alcohol used as torpedo propellant was that was often used by sailors to make "torpedo juice" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpedo_juice) so that ended up being tainted as well to render it undrinkable.
That was also a severely misguided effort.
Re: The US government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition (2010)
#5Just like there are regularly reported "MDMA deaths" in the mainstream media despite MDMA never having been reasonably blamed for any death (beyond crazy "took 50x recommended dosage" or disingenuous "took something they thought was MDMA but was actually ketamine" cases).
Re: The US government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition (2010)
#6Who would poison our liquor without government?
Re: The US government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition (2010)
#7Although this had unfortunate consequences, and would be unthinkable in today's enlightened world, I'm not sure the line of reasoning here was unreasonable.
The idea that manufacturers would be allowed to produce vast quantities of a partially illegal substance, without putting in efforts to prevent illegal use, seems unreasonable.
Imagine the outcry if it turned out Phizer was manufacturing all the heroin. (They and their friends are manufacturing the heroin addicts, but the doctors are equally to blame here) It seems reasonable the government would act to stop it. The understanding of human behavior was not developed enough in the 1920s to really expect a perfectly safe program.
You could argue that the government should have been serving, rather than fighting the people, but a democracy, even a republican one like the US's is subject to the whims of an easily frightened electorate.
Re: The US government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition (2010)
#8Just like there are regularly reported "MDMA deaths" in the mainstream media despite MDMA never having been reasonably blamed for any death (beyond crazy "took 50x recommended dosage" or disingenuous "took something they thought was MDMA but was actually ketamine" cases).
That's not really true, MDMA in high doses does have dangerous acute effects which can be deadly (hyponatremia, hyperthermia).
See f.e. Martha Fernback, Anna Wood. I mean even if you die from water poisoning or heart attack (at the age of 15), that would not happen if you don't ingest MDMA beforehand.
Re: The US government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition (2010)
#9Although this had unfortunate consequences, and would be unthinkable in today's enlightened world, I'm not sure the line of reasoning here was unreasonable. The idea that manufacturers would be allowed to produce vast quantities of a partially illegal substance, without putting in efforts to prevent illegal use, seems unreasonable. Imagine the outcry if it turned out Phizer was manufacturing all the heroin. (They and…
It is still done today. Prescription opiods are loaded with acetaminophen that will make you far sicker sooner than the opiods will.
Re: The US government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition (2010)
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