The Prohibition-Era Poison Squad

During Prohibition in the 1920s, industrial alcohol was deliberately poisoned by the U.S. government to deter drinking. Manufacturers denatured industrial alcohol with chemicals like methanol, chloroform, and acetone. When bootleggers figured out how to redistill it into drinkable liquor, the government escalated—adding even deadlier poisons. By 1926, the Treasury Department mandated that industrial alcohol contain lethal additives. The policy killed an estimated 10,000 people. On Christmas 1926 alone, 31 people died in New York from poisoned alcohol. The medical examiner called it 'government-sponsored murder.' People went blind, suffered organ failure, and died in agony. The government defended the policy, arguing it was the drinkers' fault. The poisoning program continued until Prohibition ended in 1933. This dark chapter of American history shows how far authorities will go to enforce unpopular laws, even at the cost of mass casualties.