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Regarding that last bit, that's something I'd like to see explored a bit more in apocalypse stories (whether due to a pandemic, natural disaster, civil breakdown, zombies, aliens, etc). If we lose our steady supply of caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol, after the first day or two people will absolutely lose their minds as withdrawal kicks in on a massive scale.

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It's something that's said in a half-joking way here sometimes, that if taxes were hiked on beer there would be a(nother) revolution. I don't know if I agree, but it would certainly be political suicide for any party who took that position - they'd get crucified the next election cycle.

However what I'm talking about is maybe a little different from what you mentioned. A sudden lack of supply in a commodity is something we've had in ČR before, a few years back there was a scandal where a group of guys pushed tainted spirits into the market and the sale of spirits were outright banned for a few weeks. It was kinda weird how little things changed.

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