Jake Leg

            During the prohibition times in the United States, some turned to Jamaica Ginger extract. Jamaica Ginger, better known as “Jake” in the U.S. was a medicine that started to become popular in the late 19^th- century. Those looking to find a way to still enjoy alcohol after the start of prohibition started to drink Jake because it contained nearly 80% ethanol. The ginger itself was not dangerous if consumed but once the U.S. government found out that it could be used as an illicit form of alcohol, they wanted it to be changed. The change made the Jake more bitter testing and therefore more difficult and less pleasurable to drink.

            Bootleggers began to look for a way to make the Jake pass the tests of the government and still be somewhat easy to drink. They settled on tri-o-phosphate, which was originally thought to be non-toxic but was later discovered to be a neurotoxin. People began to notice that users of Jake were starting to be effected by the poisonous substance. Patients began showing signs of lost control of their extremities. This caused many to develop a recognizable limp, which was later dubbed “Jake Leg.”

            It did not take long for the source of the contaminated Jake to be discovered and eliminated. Unfortunately, by that time the damage to the victims had already been done. It was very seldom that any of the victims were able to recover from the condition. Many of the victims were immigrants who received very little medical attention.  It is not known exactly how many people were affected by the contaminated Jake, but it is believed that the number approached about 50 thousand. This incident became fairly well known but I it did not prevent an outbreak of organophosphate poisoning in Germany, Spain, Italy, and Morocco in 1959.