Jamaica ginger

Bottles of "Jamaica ginger," also called "Jake."
Tri-ortho cresyl phosphate(TOCP), also called tricresyl phosphate, was the neurotoxin responsible for the paralysis associated with "Jake Walk."
Sampling "Ginger Jake", April 2, 1932

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.[1][2] 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.[1][2]

  1. ^ a b Parascandola, John (May–June 1995). "The Public Health Service and Jamaica Ginger Paralysis in the 1930s". PHS Chronicles. 110 (3): 361–363. PMC 1382135. PMID 7610232.
  2. ^ a b Gussow, Leon (October 2004). "The Jake Walk and Limber Trouble: A Toxicology Epidemic". Emergency Medicine News. 26 (10): 48. doi:10.1097/00132981-200410000-00045. ISSN 1054-0725.