Jamaica ginger

Jamaica ginger extract, known in the United States by the slang name Jake, was a late 19th-century patent medicine that provided a convenient way to obtain alcohol during the era of Prohibition, since it contained approximately 70% to 80% ethanol by weight. In the 1930s, a large number of users of Jamaica ginger were afflicted with a paralysis of the hands and feet that quickly became known as Jamaica ginger paralysis or jake paralysis.
Early use and Prohibition.
Since the 1860s, Jamaica ginger had been widely sold at drug stores and roadside stands in bottles. In small doses, mixed with water, it was used as a remedy for headaches, upper respiratory infections, menstrual disorders, and intestinal gas. Despite its strong ginger flavour, it was popular as an alcoholic beverages in dry counties in the United States, where it was a convenient and legal method of obtaining alcohol. It was often mixed with a soft drink to improve the taste. 
When Prohibition was enacted in 1920, sale of alcohol became illegal nationwide, prompting consumers to search for substitutes. Patent medicines with a high alcohol percentage, such as Jamaica ginger, became obvious choices, as they were legal and available over the counter without prescriptions. By 1921, the United States government made the original formulation of Jamaica ginger prescription-only. Only a fluid extract version defined in the United States Pharmacopeia, with a high content of bitter-tasting ginger oleoresin, remained available in stores. Because of the taste, it was classified as nonpotable, and was therefore legal to sell despite the alcohol content.
Manufacturers of Jamaica ginger began to illegally replace the ginger oleoresin in their product with cheaper ingredients like molasses, glycerin, and castor oil, cutting costs and significantly diminishing the unpleasant ginger flavor. United States Department of Agriculture agents audited Jamaica ginger manufacturers for these illegal alterations by boiling samples and weighing the resulting solids.
Victims.
Organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy.
When the price of castor oil increased in the latter portion of the 1920s, Harry Gross, president of Hub Products Corporation, sought an alternative additive for his Jamaica ginger formula. He discarded ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol as being too volatile, eventually selecting a mixture containing triorthocresyl phosphate (TOCP), a plasticizer used in lacquers and paint finishing. Gross was advised by the manufacturer of the mixture, Celluloid Corporation, that it was non-toxic.
TOCP was originally thought to be non-toxic; however, it was later determined to be a neurotoxin that causes axonal damage to the nerve cells in the nervous system of human beings, especially those located in the spinal cord. The resulting type of paralysis is now referred to as organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy, or OPIDN.
In 1930, large numbers of Jake users began to find they were unable to use their hands and feet. Some victims could walk, but they had no control over the muscles which would normally have enabled them to point their toes upward. Therefore, they would raise their feet high with the toes flopping downward, which would touch the pavement first followed by their heels. The toe first, heel second pattern made a distinctive "tap-click, tap-click" sound as they walked. This very peculiar gait became known as the jake walk and the jake dance and those afflicted were said to have jake leg, jake foot, or jake paralysis. Additionally, the calves of the legs would soften and hang down and the muscles between the thumbs and fingers would atrophy.
Within a few months, the TOCP-adulterated Jake was identified as the cause of the paralysis, and the contaminated Jake was recovered. But by that time, it was too late for many victims. Some did recover full, or partial, use of their limbs. But for most, the loss was permanent. The total number of victims was never accurately determined, but is frequently quoted as between 30,000 and 50,000. Many victims were immigrants to the United States, and most were poor, with little political or social influence. The victims received very little assistance. Harry Gross and his part-owner of Boston-Hub Products, Max Reisman, were ultimately fined $1,000 each and given a two-year suspended jail sentence.
Several blues songs on the subject were recorded in the early 1930s, such as "Jake Walk Papa" by Asa Martin, and "Jake Liquor Blues" by Ishman Bracey.
Although this incident became well known, later cases of organophosphate poisoning occurred in Germany, Spain, Italy, and, on a large scale, in Morocco in 1959, where cooking oil adulterated with jet engine lubricant from an American airbase led to paralysis in approximately 10,000 victims, and caused an international incident.
Cultural references.
Music.
Songs were recorded at the time about "jake" and its effects; in a variety of musical styles, including blues and country. Several have been included on the compilation albums "Jake Walk Blues" (1977, 14 songs) and "Jake Leg Blues" (1994, 16 songs) There is a marked but unsurprising duplication of songs between those albums. In some cases, different artists used the same title for different songs. The songs on one or both of those albums are, in alphabetic order by title:
Other musical references include: