Prohibition Failure

3 Pages 813 Words

Prohibition Failure
On January 17th 1920 the eighteenth amendment was passed. From that day forward: “The manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes.” was prohibited. (U.S. Constitution) These additions to the U.S. constitution was organized to reduce crime and the tax burden due to prison and poorhouses, solve social problems, and overall improve the health of America (Thorton, 1). However, the outcome of the new amendment had a reverse effect than predicted. Overall it was ineffective because it was unenforceable; it caused an explosive growth of crime, and inevitably increased the amount of alcohol consumption.
Shortly after the ratifying of the Eighteenth Amendment, the National Prohibition Act, or the Volstead Act, as it was called because of its author, Andrew J. Volstead, was carried out. This determined intoxicating liquor as anything having an alcoholic content of anything more than 0.5 percent, omitting alcohol used for medicinal and sacramental purposes. From this, law enforcement officers had guidelines to follow to determine specific laws and methods of enforcement.
Although one would assume prohibition would enhance the difficulty of obtaining alcohol, liquor was in fact very easy to obtain. The bootlegging business was so colossal; customers could easily obtain alcohol by simply walking down any random street. Illegal speak-easies took the places of shut-down saloons. “There were twice as many speak-easies in Rochester, New York, as saloons closed by Prohibition” (Thorton, 6). Secretly concealed in cellars, offices, they permited only those with membership cards to purchase from them. Bootleggers’ illegally imported liquor, stole from government storehouses, or made their own, making it effortless for customers to acquire. �...