How Did Prohibition Misguided

Prohibition: A misguided experiment Prohibition as we know was a failed experiment by the government in America. Prohibition lasted thirteen years from 1920-1933. The negative effects over those years obviously outweighed the positive effects, leading to the ratification of the 21st amendment which made the sale and consumption along with the production alcohol legal once more. Prohibition was pushed upon local and state governments by organizations such as the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League. Groups like these pushed for the illegalization of alcohol until it was brought to national attention which evolved into the eighteenth amendment in 1920 that made the sale, production, and consumption of alcohol illegal.
Prohibition was a waste of time spent by the government, much like the war on drugs of today’s world. This is true because laws such as these protect very little of the population that doesn’t partake in these activities, although dangers can come from consuming alcohol but for the majority the only person being hurt is the person taking part in the alcohol consumption. Prohibition should have been introduced and experimented first within more states who opposed the law, this would have ensured the consequences and positive effects before taking the act to the federal law system. “National prohibition of alcohol was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce tax burden by prisons, and improve health hygiene in America” (Thornton 1991) These issues were thought to be solved by the 18th amendment, but one issue that actually back fired in the illegalization of alcohol was the crime rates.
Once prohibition was made law, illegal organizations such as gangs began to form because of the financial opportunity these organizations saw. “America had experienced a gradual decline in the rate of serious crimes over much of the 19th and early 20th centuries. That trend was unintentionally reversed by the efforts of the Prohibition movement. The homicide rate increased to 10 per 100,000 population during the 1920s, a 78 percent increase over the pre-Prohibition period.” (Thornton 1991) As one can see that the serious crime rates such as homicides declined over the late 19th century and early 20th century, but prohibition brought new opportunities to make money and control the illegal industry. Prohibition brought new light to the “mob” aspect of crime. Mob leaders such as Al Capone undeservingly became famous during the prohibition era with the operations of running alcohol across state lines, known as bootlegging and the opening of speakeasies which were the same as a bar of today but operated
illegally. Prohibition not only raised crime rates and brought organized crime to the public eye, it also killed a profitable industry, not only for the brewing and winery companies but the amendment hurt tax revenue for the government as well. “From 1919 to 1929, federal tax revenues from distilled spirits dropped from $365 million to less than $13 million, and revenue from fermented liquors from $117 million to virtually nothing”. (Blocker) The industry of producing alcohol was almost completely wiped out, most companies closed up shop forever, with only the biggest companies keeping afloat with other malt made products such as porcelain and malted milk says doctor Jack S. Blocker Jr.. Physical and psychological harm were also negative effects brought to a more alarming rate during the prohibition era. The production of alcohol before the illegalization was regulated and enforced to ensure certain standards before sold to the public. Once prohibition was enforced, people began making their own liquor which was made mostly from wood. Alcohol made from wood was not a safe alternate to alcohols made with grains like beer or fruits such as wine. Many people died during the prohibition era from drinking alcohol made from wood. Some sources even say that alcohol was purposely poisoned during this time to try a new tactic of enforcement, since the normal enforcement was a failing act. The cost of prohibition was a substantial amount, especially in a time when most of the population depended either on factor work or farming to support their families. Researchers say that prohibition cost in the high hundred millions of dollars, which was a great cost in those days. Enforcing Prohibition was a corrupt business, in which many police officers and even government officials were paid to look the other way or even provide assistance. The number of pedestrians arrested for violations such as having a drink after work or on a day off nearly doubled. This statistic seems alarming that the U.S. government would spend so much time and effort on enforcing a penalty on someone who enjoyed a drink, which so many people do today on a regular basis. One other negative effect of prohibition, was creating a sense that breaking the law was okay, since everyone was doing it. “In his baccalaureate address as President of Yale University, in June, 1922, Dr. Angell felt called upon to say that in this country “the violation of law has never been so general nor so widely condoned as at present,”” (Franklin) Never before was there a time were the law was so openly broken and accepted among peers as it was during this time. One thing that negatively affected alcoholics was the lack of help with their disease during this time, with prohibition being the new law many organizations shut their doors due to the thought that they were no longer needed. One organization that is still alive today that came from these therapy asylums shutting down is AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). The self-help group was established in 1935, and was designed to use innovative therapy tactics to help the patient instead of the traditional quick fix drug solutions says doctor Blocker in his prohibition article in the US National Library of Medicine. The negative effects of prohibition are undeniable, but there were still some positive outcomes of the amendment which are normally overlooked when discussing this topic. One benefit of Prohibition was the decline of the overall public consumption of alcohol. “Arrests for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct declined 50 percent between 1916 and 1922. For the population as a whole, the best estimates are that consumption of alcohol declined by 30 percent to 50 percent.” (Moore) This statistic was a big success for the pro-prohibition organizations of the time. On the response to this “success” for prohibition activists, many researchers such as Mark Thornton says that the overall consumption rate was falling before prohibition was made law. One American economist, Mark Warburton found that “alcohol purchases had fallen twenty percent between prewar years, 1911-14 and 1927-30.” Mark H. Moore, a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government says that the amendment did have its drawbacks, but successes are still overlooked to this day. One other positive outcome from this era that pro-prohibition lean on in accrediting their position is the reduction of disease, particular liver disease. The liver disease that was most looked at and recorded during the time was cirrhosis , cirrhosis is failure of the liver which is most commonly cause by alcohol abuse. The decline of cirrhosis disease during prohibition era compared to before the law was passed was one of the biggest positive effects of the amendment. “Constitutional prohibition reduced cirrhosis by about 10-20 percent.” (Dills and Miron) Prohibition to this day is deemed unsuccessful by many well respected researchers and government leaders.
The 18th amendment, which made the consumption, production, and sale of alcohol illegal lasted almost fourteen years. “Prohibition, failing fully to enforce sobriety and costing billions, rapidly lost popular support in the early 1930s.”(History) The amendment was then repealed and the 21st amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933. Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for presidency in 1932, and one of his main campaigning points was to repeal prohibition. Many organizations such as the Crusaders, Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, and Women’s Moderation were leaders in the repealing of the amendment, the Women’s Moderation group was a game changer for the public eye since all-women organizations were the leaders in amending prohibition in the early 20th
century.
The question is, what did the government learn from this experience in limiting the freedom to partake in activities such as having a drink? There is much from prohibition that can be used as insight in today’s controversial government decision which is the war on drugs that has been going on for more than forty years. The war on drugs has been seen just as unsuccessful as the prohibition amendment. Abraham Lincoln, considered by many to be one of the greatest presidents this country has ever seen, he was opposed to such laws like prohibition and stated “prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason, in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes.” Prohibition is one of just a few misguided experiments this great country has been a part of, hopefully the government will see the misguidance in controlling certain freedoms that were stowed upon U.S. citizens by the country’s founding fathers and consider them when making future decisions.