Prohibition
The Idealized View Did Not Work as Reformers Had Hoped
Prohibition may or may not have been a mistake, but it did not work out as its supporters envisioned. The proponents of Prohibition fervently believed prior to its passage that banning alcohol would mean that alcohol abuse and alcoholism would become a remnant of the past; however, they were quickly proven very wrong. People who wanted to drink either drank at home with alcohol that they or their friends had produced themselves (“bathtub gin”), or they frequented clubs known as “speakeasies” or “blind pigs,” which offered bootlegged alcohol and where one had to know the password to gain entrance.
Another problem was that since alcohol production was illegal, the federal and state governments had no control over its manufacture, and some individuals added dangerous and lifethreatening adulterants to the alcohol, such as kerosene.
The “Wets” Prevail: The End of Prohibition
Prohibition ended when the “wets” overcame the “drys” in terms of their political power. The death of Prohibition was partly a desire to allow self-determination and let adults engage in what was considered adult behavior. But the reason Prohibition was overturned was more of an economic reason: to obtain the tax revenues from the lawful sale of alcoholic beverages in the face of the Great Depression. There were also some individuals whose primary support for repeal was their belief that excise taxes on alcohol could replace other taxes, such as income taxes. (History proved them wrong. Rarely does a new tax mean that an old tax is repealed.)
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Mark S. Gold, M.D. and Christine Adamec
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REFERENCES
- Amethyst Initiative. Statement. Available online. Accessed March 1, 2009.
- Beirness, Douglas J., and Erin E. Beasley. Alcohol and Drug Use Among Drivers: British Columbia Roadside Survey, 2008. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, 2009.
- Berridge, Virginia, and Sarah Mars. “History of Addictions.” Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health 58 (2003): 747–750.
- Blanco, Carlos, M.D., et al. “Mental Health of College Students and Their Non-College-Attending Peers: Results from the National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions.” Archives of General Psychiatry 65, no. 12 (2008): 1,429–1,437.
- Blocker, Jack S., Jr. “Did Prohibition Really Work: Alcohol Prohibition as a Public Health Innovation.” American Journal of Public Health 96, no. 2 (2006): 233–243.