Why is Moonshine Illegal ?
(H/tip to Slate)
You buy the ingredients and put in the time and effort to create something of value out of a sugar mash but yet in the eyes of the government you have broken the law. In the business world creating something out of nothing is called entrepreneurship. I even learned how to make it in my high school chemistry class. This whole brouhaha comes down to one thing: money. It seems the government's main beef with bootleggin' is that it deprives the government of an opportunity to dip their hands in your pockets or to tax you.

Uncle Sam takes an excise tax of $2.14 for each 750-milliliter bottle of 80-proof spirits, compared with 21 cents for a bottle of wine (of 14 percent alcohol or less) and 5 cents for a can of beer.

Government prosecutors point out that moonshine poses serious health risks, including heavy-metal toxicity. So, how dangerous is it? There's no inspection of the manufacturing process, so quality—and levels of contamination—vary.

In 2001,Representative Stupak introduced a bill To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow distilled spirits to be produced in dwelling houses, other connected structures, and certain other premises. It received one vote and thus, never made it out of Committee.