There are good (alcoholic) spirits and bad ones, as there are those who can drink sensibly… and all the rest. Good alcohol, administered in just the right dose to induce good spirits, has never killed anyone; quite the contrary. A bad beverage can kill. Whether sold by street peddlers, in underground bars, disreputable dives, or made perfectly legally at home, the science and know-how of distillery are not something you can make up as you go along; worse than that, if the correct processes are not followed, “tainted” or “contraband” alcohol can kill… Mexico, South Africa, India and all the countries that have declared a ban, albeit a temporary one, on consuming or producing alcohol are generally those that have had to announce serious tragedies.
Although, unfortunately, there is a certain “irreversibility” in death and its finality is the same for all of us, the unhappy fate of this South African couple is perhaps the most poignant of all.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12330853
https://www.trtworld.com/americas/contaminated-liquor-kills-21-in-mexico-35888