<P> "Drinking the Kool - Aid" is an expression commonly used in the United States that refers to a person who believes in a possibly doomed or dangerous idea because of perceived potential high rewards . The phrase often carries a negative connotation . It can also be used ironically or humorously to refer to accepting an idea or changing a preference due to popularity, peer pressure, or persuasion . In recent years it has evolved further to mean extreme dedication to a cause or purpose, so extreme that one would "Drink the Kool - Aid" and die for the cause . </P> <P> The phrase derives from the November 1978 Jonestown deaths, in which over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, who were followers of Jim Jones, died, many of whom committed suicide by drinking a mixture of a powdered soft - drink flavoring agent laced with cyanide and prescription drugs Valium, Phenergan, and chloral hydrate, while the rest of the members, including 89 infants and elderly, were killed by forced ingestion of the poison . The soft - drink flavoring was a mixture of both Kool - Aid and a competing brand, Flavor Aid . </P> <P> On November 18, 1978, Jones ordered that the members of Representative Leo Ryan's party be killed after several defectors chose to leave with the party . Residents of the commune later committed suicide by drinking a flavored beverage laced with potassium cyanide, some were forced to drink it, some (such as small children) drank it unknowingly . Roughly 918 people died . </P>

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