How Did Prohibition Affect Public Health
Prohibition was put in place in the United States of America in the early years of the twentieth century to help protect society from the evils of alcohol. However, it is well demonstrated by multiple sources that the introduction of Prohibition acted as a double-edged sword. Although the government had good intentions in banning the sale and consumption of alcohol, Prohibition had a massive negative impact, with increased organised crime, detrimental effects on public health, and a diminishment of respect for the law.
The US Congress implemented Prohibition in 1917 through a constitutional amendment after a long, hard-fought campaign by the Temperance movement. The Temperance movement advocated against alcohol supply and consumption in the …show more content…
Paradoxically, the implementation of Prohibition also had adverse impacts on public health. Illegally manufactured alcohol is usually of poor quality and might contain toxic ingredients added to make it taste more pleasant. It is estimated that 1000 US citizens died each year during the Prohibition period from [year] to [year] due to the effects of tainted alcohol. Research at the time concluded that while public health overall increased during the Prohibition years due to a range of factors, adult male deaths increased significantly during the Prohibition period due to the poor quality of the available alcohol, and that admissions to mental asylums for alcoholism also increased …show more content…
Amazingly, the U.S. Treasury Department estimated in the 1920s, manufacturers of illegal alcohol were stealing about 60 million gallons of industrial alcohol each year. To combat this, government required the addition of methanol to discourage bootleggers (illegal alcohol-makers) from using ethanol in the manufacturing process. Methanol is highly toxic, but desperate alcoholics would still drink the resulting products with lethal results.
Illegal suppliers preferred more concentrated products like whisky and spirits rather than lower alcohol products like beer, meaning that drinkers consumed more alcohol by volume. In addition, some people turned to other, more dangerous products when alcohol was not readily available. Drinkers switched to opium, cocaine, laudanum (an opium product which can be legally bought in pharmacies), and unregulated “patent medicines”, leading to an increase in addiction to these dangerous
The US Congress implemented Prohibition in 1917 through a constitutional amendment after a long, hard-fought campaign by the Temperance movement. The Temperance movement advocated against alcohol supply and consumption in the …show more content…
Paradoxically, the implementation of Prohibition also had adverse impacts on public health. Illegally manufactured alcohol is usually of poor quality and might contain toxic ingredients added to make it taste more pleasant. It is estimated that 1000 US citizens died each year during the Prohibition period from [year] to [year] due to the effects of tainted alcohol. Research at the time concluded that while public health overall increased during the Prohibition years due to a range of factors, adult male deaths increased significantly during the Prohibition period due to the poor quality of the available alcohol, and that admissions to mental asylums for alcoholism also increased …show more content…
Amazingly, the U.S. Treasury Department estimated in the 1920s, manufacturers of illegal alcohol were stealing about 60 million gallons of industrial alcohol each year. To combat this, government required the addition of methanol to discourage bootleggers (illegal alcohol-makers) from using ethanol in the manufacturing process. Methanol is highly toxic, but desperate alcoholics would still drink the resulting products with lethal results.
Illegal suppliers preferred more concentrated products like whisky and spirits rather than lower alcohol products like beer, meaning that drinkers consumed more alcohol by volume. In addition, some people turned to other, more dangerous products when alcohol was not readily available. Drinkers switched to opium, cocaine, laudanum (an opium product which can be legally bought in pharmacies), and unregulated “patent medicines”, leading to an increase in addiction to these dangerous