ECUADOR BANS ALCOHOL AFTER DEATHS

EQUADOR BANS ALCOHOL AFTER
21 DIE FROM BOOTLEG LIQUOR

Quito, Equador - Ecuador was observing a nationwide ban on alcohol Monday as police investigated the deaths of 21 people from toxic liquor, Hispanically Speaking News reported.  The emergency 72-hour measure was confirmed by the government Sunday, prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcohol, as police seized 208 liters (55 gallons) of apparently contaminated drinks.  More than 100 people were hospitalized at the weekend after drinking a homemade batch that was suspected to have been contaminated with methanol.  All of the deceased hailed from the eastern province of Los Rios, but problems with bootleg alcohol were reported across the South American nation.  Public health minister David Chiriboga said police officers had seized 28 containers, each with 55 gallons of alcohol contaminated with methanol. 

Methyl alcohol is a toxic substance sometimes used to illegally produce cheap liquor.  He said a law prohibiting the sale or consumption of alcohol had been in effect since Saturday in the area.  This was extended nationwide on Sunday so police and soldiers could step up their search to confiscate bootleg alcohol.  He also urged people to seek help if they started feeling nausea or were vomiting.  Other symptoms, he said, could include abdominal pain, blurred vision or difficulty in breathing.  The Committee for National Emergency Operations announced on Sunday that the ban was being extended to the rest of the country and imposed a state of exception. There have been reports of bootleg liquor being found in other provinces.  Police have so far made one arrest, Spanish news agency EFE reported.

The government of Ecuador has imposed a nationwide 72-hour ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol after receiving reports that 21 people had died from poisoning after consuming adulterated alcohol.  The drastic measure was imposed after more than 100 other people from the coastal town of Urdaneta, in the Los Rios province, were also hospitalized. The reason for the ban is to prevent more deaths and new cases of poisoning, said the authorities.  The desire of the living entity to come into the material world in order to enjoy intoxication, drink alcohol or other forbidden things is something easy to detect.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Just today we have seen in the newspapers of Bombay that the government is going to repeal its prohibition laws. ... But unfortunately the citizens are so clever that they have increased illicit distillation of liquor, and although not being sold publicly in shops, liquor is being sold in public lavatories and similar abnormal places. Unable to check such illicit smuggling, the government has decided to manufacture the liquor at cheaper prices so that people can have their supply of intoxication directly from the government instead of purchasing it in public lavatories.  The government failed to change the hearts of the citizens from indulging in sinful life, so instead of losing the taxes they collect to inflate the treasury, they have decided to manufacture liquor to supply to the citizens who hanker after it.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam - Canto 4: “Creation of the Fourth Order”
Chapter 20: “Lord Vishnu's Appearance in the Sacrificial Arena of Mahārāja Prithu”
Verse 21 - Bhaktivedanta VedaBase