Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.
Mankind from time immemorial had always loved that heady tipsy feeling. However, if the high, kills or blinds, then we are answerable. More than 150 tea plantation workers died last week after consuming toxic illicit liquor in Golahgat, Assam. The tragedy is colossal with 350 people admitted to hospital. The deaths come less than two weeks after more than 100 people died in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand from drinking illegally produced alcohol, known locally as hooch or country liquor. Prohibition, like so many other policies imposed from the moral high ground, disproportionately affects the poor who resort to illegally brewed alcohol, not infrequently leading to their death, and are more likely to be harassed by the police.
Why are people hooked on to liquor, legal or illegal, when they know that it can kill or maim beyond redemption? Alcohol has wonderful anti-anxiety properties that can inhibit anxiety or the feeling of stress. The relationship between “value” and “likelihood”, is multiplicative. There will be no motivation to the goal pursuit if the value of the goal is zero, no matter how high the likelihood of success. Similarly, there will be no motivation if the expected chance is quite low. Understanding human psychology puts the addiction to drugs and alcohol in the right perspective. Human systems adapt while multiplying the absorption and adsorption rates.
How is hooch made? Pour ten litres of water into large vats. Add five pounds of sugar, five cups of diced tomatoes and one cup of tomato paste per vat. This is to help kick if off and make it turn faster. The hooch cooks when the tomatoes rot, fermenting in three to five days, causing the sugar to turn into alcohol. Methanol is used to increase the apparent strength of the product. Unfortunately, it causes blindness by damaging the optic nerve and can even kill in slightly higher concentrations. As little as 4 ml of methanol can cause blindness and as little as 30 ml can kill. Brewing process also produces acetone and various aldehydes that can virtually disable the nervous system. In 2011, several Russian tour guides were killed after consuming bootleg alcohol on a trip through Turkey, and police reportedly found methanol in the whiskey sold on the yacht.
India has seen an increase in the production of Moonshine or Tharra from sugar cane pulp, in recent times due to prohibition imposed in some states. Incidentally, US too had a total ban on Moonshine production between 1920 and 1933. Large scale illegal production changed the discourse in 2010, when it was made legal with the processes tightly controlled.
Stills pose real danger in India. Greed and a cut price promote poorly produced moonshine contaminated, mainly from materials used in the construction of the still. Stills employing automotive radiators as condensers are particularly dangerous. Glycol produced from antifreeze is lethal. Radiators used as condensers contain lead at the connections to the plumbing. Consumption of lead-tainted moonshine is a serious risk factor for saturnine gout, a very painful medical condition that damages kidneys and joints besides causing blindness.
So much for illegal hooch. A New Zealand man recently went blind after drinking lots of vodka while on diabetes medication. Thankfully, doctors were able to restore his sight by administering him Johnnie Walker Black Label whiskey. What makes this secret so potent for people to be apprised of? Methanol poisoning occurs when the body metabolizes dangerous quantities of methanol, resulting in too much acid in the blood. This acid can then damage or kill cells in the optic nerve. However, the body prefers ethanol to methanol found in whiskey or any other unadulterated liquor that prevents the body from metabolizing more methanol.
Revenue from the Alcohol Industry cannot be dispensed with, from the revenue side budget of any State in India. If done, many of the welfare schemes could take a hit. So, are we funding welfare of our people at the expense of the very same welfare? A serious paradox. A dichotomy. India’s alcohol industry is the third largest in the world at $35 billion. Whiskey dominates the IMFL category. We have the largest Whiskey industry in the world. UP’s alcohol revenue is 350 billion Rupees per annum. Maharashtra is nearly a 1000 BR. Assam is 60 BR. Southern India accounts for 60% of alcohol production. Rapid increase in urban population, sizable middle-class population with rising spending power, and a sound economy are certain significant reasons behind increase in consumption of alcohol in India. The Indian alcohol market is growing at a CAGR of 8.8% and is expected to reach 16.8 billion litres of consumption by the year 2022. The popularity of wine and vodka is increasing at a remarkable CAGR of 21.8% and 22.8% respectively. We are the largest consumer of whiskey in the world constituting 60% of the IMFL market. Can such a market be ever banned by any government on a populist wish list of a certain section of its people with honesty?
Approaching elections, fought as they are on freebies that include cash and alcohol, could see a spurt in sales of liquor. It’s not like we need reasons to drink, really. Actually any reason is reason to drink. Disposable income, coming out of free cash either as farmer loan waivers or unemployment doles, can actually be the anti-thesis of all the cathartic ideals talked about. This still could be acceptable, if the liquor sold is of passable quality. With States bent on banning the sale more as a political gimmick, it is only natural that the unofficial and dubious markets thrive. Country liquor produced in local unlicensed distilleries made of cheap raw material is often passed off as consumable. Illicit alcohol market, twice as large as licit, evades all national and state-level taxes and duties, thus, making it very cheap and affordable. When the stakes are as high as these, is it any surprise that we see such tragedies occurring every now and then? But then, Alcohol gives infinite patience for stupidity. Mankind is not all intelligence and fortitude. A little stupidity did no harm to anybody. Stupendous stupidity is unpardonable.