Fake Alcohol Consumption in Rasht Sends 19 People to Hospital

Following the distribution and consumption of non-standard alcoholic beverages in Rasht, 19 individuals were hospitalized. Health officials in Gilan Province reported that 9 of these individuals are in 'poor general condition.' According to the public relations office of Gilan University of Medical Sciences on Sunday, October 1, Mohammad Taghi Ashoobi, the head of the university, stated that these individuals presented with symptoms of weakness, lethargy, blurred vision, and restlessness at several hospitals in Rasht, including 'Poursina and Razi,' and 'treatment measures' are being taken for them. The government news agency IRNA quoted Dr. Ashoobi as saying that '9 of them are in poor general condition and are seriously ill.' The effort to impose the policies of the Islamic Republic on the personal lives of citizens and to intervene in their lifestyles, such as mandatory hijab under the guise of 'enjoining good and forbidding wrong,' has repeatedly claimed victims in Iran. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, the production, preparation, distribution, and consumption of alcoholic beverages have been 'illegal' in Iran, with various punishments, including execution. Accordingly, the preparation and distribution of alcohol without supervision, using industrial alcohol, has repeatedly led to death and irreparable physical harm to citizens. For instance, in May of this year, several doctors were poisoned due to the consumption of non-standard alcoholic beverages at a party in Shiraz, resulting in the death of one, several others going into a coma, and kidney issues for some. Kazem Alamdar, a sociologist residing in the United States, emphasized in an interview with Voice of America that the Islamic Republic is directly responsible for the lives lost due to the consumption of fake alcohol. According to a report from the World Health Organization published in 2018, Iran ranks ninth in the world in alcohol consumption. With the prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in Iran, the production and distribution of non-standard alcoholic drinks have become prevalent, repeatedly endangering citizens' lives. For example, in the summer of 2023, following a raid by law enforcement on a party in Mashhad, a young man attempting to escape from the officers fell from the sixth floor of a building and died. Additionally, last June, several citizens in the provinces of Alborz and Hormozgan died from consuming fake alcohol.