One of the oddest and deadliest decisions made by American law enforcement occurred in the 1920s when the authorities deliberately poisoned alcohol in a bid to combat illegal drinking and enforce Prohibition. Thousands died from alcohol poisoning as a result, and many more suffered severe – sometimes permanent – injuries. Following are thirty things about that and other fascinating but lesser-known Prohibition facts.
30. To Enforce Prohibition, the US Government Poisoned Alcohol
In 2021, many health professionals think that the government is doing too little to combat Covid-19, and that its enforcement of the restrictions and regulations necessary to combat its spread is too lax. About a century ago, back in the 1920s, the case was the opposite. Then, many health professionals thought that the government had done too much – as in a way, way, too much – and had exhibited excessive vigor in its fight against the consumption of alcohol. An example of such excess was the government’s deliberate poisoning of alcohol stocks it knew would end up consumed by the public. It began as the Holiday Season approached in 1926, and the administration of President Calvin Coolidge was determined to force celebrants to abide by Prohibition.
The federal ban on the sale of alcohol had opened the floodgates for organized crime to smuggle alcohol from abroad into the US, and for bootleggers to distribute it throughout the country. However, there was also a major domestic source of booze: industrial alcohol, which bootleggers routinely diverted from its intended uses and into drinking liquor. So some zealots in the Treasury Department, responsible for the enforcement of Prohibition, decided to doctor industrial alcohol supply with dangerous substances such as methanol. At least 10,000 people died as a result, and many more were blinded or suffered other serious injuries.