Re:Brains on Drugs: How tinkering with consciousness became ...
by mrguyorama on Thursday June 22, 2023 @11:53AM
(#36434102)
Didn't the government also add methanol to non-consumption alcohol products as well, contributing to those poisoning numbers?
Re:Brains on Drugs: How tinkering with consciousness became ...
by OkayPhysicist on Thursday June 22, 2023 @12:37PM
(#36434783)
This was likely the cause of the vast majority of methanol poisonings during the prohibition. You have to use exotic, hard to break down carbohydrates in your beer, wine, or mash (the pre-distillation fermented product), like tree bark, to end up with significant quantities of methanol.
Most of the methanol poisonings were from poorly "re"natured fuel alcohol.
Re:Brains on Drugs: How tinkering with consciousness became ...
by steppi on Thursday June 22, 2023 @12:25PM
(#36434585)
Yeah, industrial alcohols were (and still are) "denatured" with additives to make them toxic or unpalatable and industrial alcohol was often used as a precursor for bootleg spirits during prohibition. I think modern denaturants lean more towards unpalatable than toxic.
By 1926, according to Prohibition, by Edward Behr, 750 New Yorkers perished from such poisoning and hundreds of thousands more suffered irreversible injuries including blindness and paralysis. [0]
[0] https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28...