Wouldn't they be able to use the same ethanol as distilled by the crapload for fuel? That has an additive which makes it unfit for human consumption.
Yes they could. Corn based ethanol. The problem was it wasn’t just felons drinking it in jail, but it went mainstream with teenagers around 2010 and mixing it with mouthwash (more ethanol) and using salt the break the alcohol from the gel. To make it less desirable, they switched to isopropyl ethanol which is prone to giving horrid hangovers.