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Denatured alcohol in New Zealand specifically doesn't contain methanol or any other super toxic substances (except ethanol of course), despite being called meth

Denatured alcohol in New Zealand specifically doesn't contain methanol or any other super toxic substances (except ethanol of course), despite being called methylated spirits. It still contains bittering agents, vomiting agents, and some other stuff that's nasty but won't kill you (I think some of it is denatured with petroleum as well at like 1%). Drinking it is gonna make you a bit crook, but it won't kill you any more than a bottle of vodka. I guess the government decided that killing alcoholics isn't the best course of action.

Houshalter 10y ago
Well they used that in the US too. The issue was the criminals were hiring chemists to remove it. So they had to try other chemicals that were more difficult to remove, but also had worse effects. The goal was never to kill alcoholics, but to prevent them from stealing industrial alcohol. I think the people behind it didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to try to drink or sell this stuff.
- nkurz 10y ago
  I think the people behind it didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to try to drink or sell this stuff. While it might be comforting to believe this, there's strong evidence that while directly killing alcoholics was not the goal, it was a known and acceptable collateral damage. Even after being confronted with the unprecedented number of deaths, the official response from Wayne Wheeler (the leader of the Anti-Saloon League and generally acknowledged architect of Prohibition) was that "The government is under no obligation to furnish people with alcohol that is drinkable when the Constitution prohibits it. The person who drinks this industrial alcohol is a deliberate suicide." https://books.google.com/books?id=8gAtAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT173&dq=%22The+government+is+under+no+obligation+to+furnish+people+with+alcohol+that+is+drinkable+when+the+Constitution+prohibits+it.+The+person+who+drinks+this+industrial+alcohol+is+a+deliberate+suicide.%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-mvasgffOAhUOHGMKHbaRCSgQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=%22The%20government%20is%20under%20no%20obligation%20to%20furnish%20people%20with%20alcohol%20that%20is%20drinkable%20when%20the%20Constitution%20prohibits%20it.%20The%20person%20who%20drinks%20this%20industrial%20alcohol%20is%20a%20deliberate%20suicide.%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=8gAtAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT173&dq=%... Edit: Here's a political cartoon from 1927 attacking Wheeler for the deliberateness of his approach: http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/tribune/trib00000000/trib00000000578.jpg http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/tribune/trib00000000/trib0000...

Houshalter 10y ago

Well they used that in the US too. The issue was the criminals were hiring chemists to remove it. So they had to try other chemicals that were more difficult to remove, but also had worse effects. The goal was never to kill alcoholics, but to prevent them from stealing industrial alcohol. I think the people behind it didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to try to drink or sell this stuff.

nkurz 10y ago
I think the people behind it didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to try to drink or sell this stuff. While it might be comforting to believe this, there's strong evidence that while directly killing alcoholics was not the goal, it was a known and acceptable collateral damage. Even after being confronted with the unprecedented number of deaths, the official response from Wayne Wheeler (the leader of the Anti-Saloon League and generally acknowledged architect of Prohibition) was that "The government is under no obligation to furnish people with alcohol that is drinkable when the Constitution prohibits it. The person who drinks this industrial alcohol is a deliberate suicide." https://books.google.com/books?id=8gAtAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT173&dq=%22The+government+is+under+no+obligation+to+furnish+people+with+alcohol+that+is+drinkable+when+the+Constitution+prohibits+it.+The+person+who+drinks+this+industrial+alcohol+is+a+deliberate+suicide.%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-mvasgffOAhUOHGMKHbaRCSgQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=%22The%20government%20is%20under%20no%20obligation%20to%20furnish%20people%20with%20alcohol%20that%20is%20drinkable%20when%20the%20Constitution%20prohibits%20it.%20The%20person%20who%20drinks%20this%20industrial%20alcohol%20is%20a%20deliberate%20suicide.%22&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=8gAtAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT173&dq=%... Edit: Here's a political cartoon from 1927 attacking Wheeler for the deliberateness of his approach: http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/tribune/trib00000000/trib00000000578.jpg http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/tribune/trib00000000/trib0000...