Word: alcoholism
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Dark Ages. Some of its provisions do seem awesomely harsh: habitual thieves are punished by having a hand cut off; adulterers are either scourged or stoned to death; falsely accusing a woman of adultery calls for 80 lashes-the same penalty imposed on a Muslim caught drinking alcohol. The equivalence of the two punishments exemplifies the time-honored logic of the Shari'a. The Koran forbade the drinking of wine, but did not specify a punishment; 80 lashes, however, was decreed for those who bore false witness. Making the analogy that drink leads to hallucination and to telling untruths...
...fuel, the nation's production of grain-corn, barley, oats and the like -would have to be increased by at least 50%. But, as gasohol advocates point out, the Government now encourages farmers to hold down their grain crops, so expanding production would not be too difficult. Moreover, alcohol can be produced from a variety of infinitely renewable sources. Though U.S. distillers now use mainly corn as their alcohol base, experts assert that just about any substance with a high starch or sugar content could be used, including wheat, potatoes and sugar cane...
Still, gasohol has its drawbacks and detractors, notably among the major oil companies. The Agriculture Department, critics note, estimates that it takes more energy to grow and harvest the grain and distill the alcohol from it than the alcohol produces when burned. For every 4 B.T.U.s of energy that are used to make alcohol, only 2.5 B.T.U.s are generated. Advocates argue that is not the point. Alcohol, they say, offers a way to boost stockpiles of liquid fuels, which are all that can be used in autos and which are in shortest supply...
...serious problem is gasohol's high price. The pure, 200-proof alcohol used in the mixture costs $1.49 per gal. wholesale, while unleaded gas is about 47?. Even in Iowa, where the state has removed the tax on gasohol, the fuel costs 76.5? at the pump, about 2? more than unleaded. In other states, where the fuel tax is imposed, the spread between gasohol and gasoline can range...
...cost could be reduced by the development of more efficient ways to produce alcohol. At present, the only proven technique is fermentation, basically the same, slow method that has been used for centuries to make liquor. Gasohol proponents have long been trying to get the government to finance the development of newer methods, and with Carter's help they may succeed...