Prohibition

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In these days, when devils enter into swine, they do not rush violently down a steep place. They call themselves moral reformers, and vote the Prohibition ticket
—Simon Iff, in Aleister Crowley's Moonchild

Prohibition, as a sort of term of art, refers to the prohibiting of alcohol and psychoactive drugs. It is generally a political stance taken by people who get more out of their favorite vices when they're forbidden.

This man benefited the most from Prohibition

In a historical context, Prohibition refers to the period of time in between 1919 and 1933 when it was illegal in the United States to produce, possess, transport, purchase, and consume any alcoholic beverage. When it started, Prohibition was widely popular — the United States had a Prohibition Party since 1869, and in fact, Republicans castigated Democrats as the party of "rum, Romanism, and rebellion." It was not until the Great Depression started that public sentiment turned against Prohibition, and FDR finally brought it down in 1933.

Canada also had a period of prohibition, but their laws were enacted at the provincial level, so the years vary: Ontario from 1916 to 1927; Alberta from 1916 to 1924; Quebec (where prohibition was highly unpopular) in 1919 only but it was quickly repealed; Prince Edward Island from 1900 to 1948. PEI was the last Canadian province to repeal prohibition.

The natural consequence of this policy was that organized crime rapidly increased in order to meet the American demand for black market booze. Incidence of alcohol abuse and alcohol-related deaths also increased during Prohibition.[1] Since the Mafia now had an extremely lucrative racket they became very rich and powerful and the crime rate skyrocketed. Consequently the government responded with the formation of the FBI. Critics of the War on Drugs often point to prohibition as one reason why the legislation of morality does not work.[2] On the other hand, at least at the beginning people drank way less on average than they did before—indeed, Americans previously averaged almost 6 drinks per day. The average level of drinking then sharply increased, and in the years immediately afterwards (exactly how long is still disputed) went back up to pre-Prohibition levels, although distilled spirits were slightly less of a factor even afterwards.[3][4] The level of cirrhosis, which is usually alcohol related, also dropped to 1/3 of what it had been before Prohibition.[5]

For Constitutional historians, it is interesting to note that the amendment authorizing Congress to engage in Prohibition (the 18th) is the only amendment to date to have been subsequently repealed (the 21st). Considering the extreme difficulty in amending the US Constitution, getting both of these passed in the same time frame is rather remarkable.

Despite Prohibition's catastrophic failure at solving the problem of alcohol abuse and its related social ills, there remain some diehards in what's left of the Prohibition Party who still think that it was a good idea.

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[edit] Was racism partly to blame?

It's pretty well established that the origins of drug prohibition in the United States are intertwined with racial mistrust, and with a sense that foreigners were taking jobs away from the native born. The first anti-drug laws in the country targeted smokable opium, which was used almost exclusively by Chinese immigrant workers. Likewise, marijuana was prohibited in an era when it was strongly associated with the Hispanics who'd brought it into the country from across the southern border.

A similar component fueled anti-alcohol sentiment at the opening of the 20th century. Under the Anti Saloon League, many organizations united in support of Prohibition, although for differing reasons. Among such constituents, ironically, were both the Ku Klux Klan and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Furthermore, following the 1913 income tax amendment and United States entry into World War I, anti-German demonization associated beer and breweries with both German-American immigrants and treason.[6] The biggest opponents of prohibition were beer breweries, who joined together to form the Brewers Association. Almost to a man, these breweries were owned and operated by German-Americans whose primary customers were also Americans of German descent. A prohibition on alcohol, some felt, was another way of excluding "the hun" from American life.

Anti-Catholicism, Antisemitism, and anti-immigrant sentiment in general played a large role in advocacy for Prohibition. Since many of the people coming to the United States at this time were Catholic or Jewish, and hailed from countries in Southern or Eastern Europe, promoting Prohibition proved a convenient way for Nativist and white supremacist bigots to suppress the rights of these new arrivals they feared and hated.[citation needed]

Blacks were also targets. The Anti-Saloon League, the most politically-powerful proponents of prohibition, campaigned in the South by playing up fears of black saloon-goers with "a bottle in one hand and a ballot in the other."

[edit] Exemptions in the United States during alcohol prohibition

During the Prohibition era, it was not entirely impossible to obtain alcohol legally. The Volstead Act contained a few loopholes:

  • Each home could make up to 200 gallons of "non-intoxicating cider and fruit juice" per year for its own use. The "non-intoxicating" part of that clause was a legal fiction, and it opened the door for home winemaking.
  • Since Volstead was a strongly Christian congressman himself, wine could be manufactured for sale, and actually sold, if the wine was "sacramental wine" and the purchaser was a priest or rabbi.
  • Up to a pint of liquor each week could be consumed "for medicinal purposes," if it was prescribed by a physician. (Compare this with the current legal status of medical marijuana.)

Note that while home winemaking in small quantities was legal, home beermaking was not. This, again, stemmed in part out of a distrust of German-Americans, who controlled the majority of U.S. beer breweries at the time Prohibition went into effect.

Near the end of the prohibition era, Congress relented and allowed the sale of beer with an alcohol content of 3.2% or less. The spirit (pardon the pun) of this law has carried forward into the statutes of many states that exist to this day. In many states and counties throughout the U.S., "3.2 beer" is the only kind of beer allowed to be sold in grocery stores or served in restaurants. (Even in Utah.)

[edit] The awful aftereffects continue

Believe it or not, Prohibition is cited as a source to why NASCAR proliferated in the States.[7]

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

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