That story about Czech Republic residents being bad servers was silly, but this is just scary: The country has banned all hard liquor after more than 50 people either died or became critically ill due to toxic methanol-laced bootleg booze. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Czech authorities instituted the ban after legitimate-looking bottles of alcohol laced with methanol started appearing in liquor stores across several Czech regions, as well as in Prague.”
Twenty-two people have been arrested, but officials “have failed to find any distillery that has produced the methanol-laced alcohol.” Poland also instituted a 30-day ban on all Czech booze, and some people are saying the incident is a wake-up call for the country, which has somewhat lax bootlegging regulations. The country’s deputy finance minister tells the Journal, “It’d be appropriate to do something about making [bootlegging] a crime.”
After Poisonings, Czech Republic Bans Hard Liquor [WSJ]
Poland bans Czech alcohol after deaths [Chicago Tribune]
