The World After the War: Prohibition

The World After the War: Prohibition

America, after the First World War, is often labeled the "Roaring Twenties". It is a time that is famous for the historic flight of Charles Lindbergh, flappers, and the golden era of baseball. It is an era in which America developed into a stable, cultured society, abounding in industrial and economic growth. This decade also has a much darker side, though, that is often overlooked. This darker side is characterized by an agricultural depression, The Great Depression, and the tribulations of Prohibition. In an attempt to exonerate American Society, the federal government banned the use of alcohol in the United States with the passage of the 18th Amendment. This action, known as Prohibition, not only affected the individual, but it shaped the culture of this nation in the 1920s and for decades to come. This "experiment", became the first legal restriction of a controlled substance in this country.

Although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition, it subsequently increased. Alcohol became more dangerous to consume; crime increased and became "organized"; the court and prison systems were stretched to the breaking point; and corruption of public officials was rampant. No measurable gains were made in productivity or reduced absenteeism. Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending. It led many drinkers to switch to opium, marijuana, patent medicines, cocaine, and other dangerous substances that they would have been unlikely to encounter in the absence of Prohibition. Those results are documented from a variety of sources, most of which, ironically, are the work of supporters of Prohibition; most economists and social scientists supported it. Their findings make the case against Prohibition that much stronger.

A number of observers of Prohibition noted that the potency of alcoholic products rose. Not only did producers and consumers switch to stronger alcoholic beverages (from beer to whiskey), but producers supplied stronger forms of particular beverages, such as fortified wine. The typical beer, wine, or whiskey contained a higher percentage of alcohol by volume during Prohibition than it did before or after. Prohibition may actually have increased drinking and intemperance by increasing the accessibility of alcohol, especially with the availability made by