Dirty Secrets Under Lake Lanier And Other Evil Government Plots

Government Officials Shrugged Off the Mass Poisoning of Drinkers

Prohibition’s enforcers ignored the furor, and continued to poison industrial alcohol. The resultant deaths continued to pile up. The New York Times archives from 1927 to 1933 contain many headlines about the damage. Not only deaths, but also blindness, hallucinations, and other side effects that sent poisoned drinkers to emergency rooms and left many with permanent damage to their health. June 20^th, 1927: Three Die From Alcohol; February 28^th, 1929: Alcohol Deaths Show Steady Rise; August 23^rd, 1930: Alcohol Deaths Up 300% Since 1920; August 17^th, 1932: Dies After Drinking Wood Alcohol. When large scale fatalities occurred, Prohibition agents shrugged it off.

In 1928, over thirty people died from alcohol poisoning in a single incident Manhattan, but US government officials declared that there was nothing they could do. A federal grand jury stated that industrial alcohol is not a beverage, but a recognized poison whose use and sale are regulated by state, not federal laws. As such, state authorities should look into its sale and improper use. As humorist Will Rogers quipped: “Governments used to murder by the bullets only. Now it’s by the quarts“. All in all, an estimated 10,000 people or more died from alcohol poisoning during Prohibition, and many more suffered serious damage to their health. The carnage finally ended with the end of Prohibition, when people regained access to regular booze, and thus no longer had to gamble with denatured industrial alcohol.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

American Heritage Magazine, February/ March 1985 – The Battle of Athens

Andreas, Peter – Killer High: A History of War in Six Drugs (2020)

Atlantic, The, September 25^th, 2013 – How Alcohol Conquered Russia

Big Think – Project 100,000: The Vietnam War’s Cruel Experiment on American Soldiers

Cheever, Susan – Drinking in America: Our Secret History (2015)

Clark, Christopher – Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 (2006)

Daily Beast – How the US Government Enforced Prohibition by Poisoning Americans

DeRose, Chris – The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens and How World War II Veterans Won the Only Successful Armed Rebellion Since the Revolution (2020)

Gainsville Times, January 5^th, 2022 – The Truth Behind Oscarville and the Violent Removal of Black Residents from Forsyth County Years Before Lake Lanier Was Built

History Collection – Historic Uprisings That Shook Powerful Governments