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Did the US government kill people by poisoning alcohol during prohibition?

Yes, during the Prohibition era in the United States, the government did knowingly allow and, in some cases, directly facilitate the poisoning of alcohol. This occurred through a program known as the "restraint of trade," which was part of the Volstead Act, the legislation that enforced Prohibition. The Volstead Act allowed the government to seize and destroy alcohol that was being produced and sold illicitly. However, in many cases, the government chose to allow the alcohol to remain on the market, even though it was known to be contaminated or poisoned. This policy was based on the belief that if people became sick or died from drinking contaminated alcohol, it would lead to increased support for Prohibition and a reduction in demand for alcoholic beverages. The government hoped that this would make it easier to enforce the ban on alcohol production and sales. In some cases, the government even directly facilitated the poisoning of alcohol. For example, during the 1920s, there were reports of the U.S. Treasury Department adding toxic chemicals to illicitly produced alcohol, in an attempt to make it less appealing to consumers and reduce demand. While the government's actions were intended to enforce Prohibition and reduce alcohol consumption, they ultimately led to thousands of deaths and injuries from contaminated and poisoned alcohol. This tragic outcome highlights the unintended consequences of government policies and the importance of considering the potential impact of such policies on public health and safety.

Last year, we worked together with Senator Joni Ernst’s office to quantify the federal bureaucracy. We asked questions like: How many are there? What are they earning compared to the private sector? Where are they located? How do they perform? And how much vacation do they enjoy on taxpayers’ dime?

Many of the answers were pretty damning.

Our findings were documented here on Substack and at Newsweek in our joint oped, “Where’s Waldo at Club Fed?”

We found that after just three years of federal employment, workers enjoyed 44 days of paid time off. Nine weeks of vacation must be nice!

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average real wage for a private worker (FY21) was $54,339 – but at 109 of 125 federal agencies in DC, the average salary was over $100K.

When questioned by Congress in 2023 about how many employees had returned to the office after Covid, Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja had no idea. ...

A new report this month from Senator Ernst, aptly titled “Out of Office,” dives even deeper. Those vacation days are just philosophical at this point, as the Covid lockdown has given way to an endless era of work-from-home and telework policies. They’re “phoning it in” – literally!

Among federal buildings in DC, just TWELVE PERCENT of office space is occupied.