Negative Effects Of Prohibition

The late comedian W.C jokingly said,” Once, during the Prohibition, I was forced to live on for days on nothing but food and water. Even Though, he said this as a joke it was true for majority of the public. The days before the 18th amendment was passed many depended upon liquor. At one point the use of alcohol became abuse. Then on January 16, 1919 the 18th Amendment was ratified so alcohol could not take over the life of Americans, but it didn't go quite as planned. The Prohibition banned the manufacturing, sale, and transportation of alcohol and the desperate ones found loopholes in this simple amendment. The Eighteenth Amendment was ultimately passed to keep a healthy working society and it was repealed because of the increasing organized crime and illegal activities all over the country.

Thesis: Although prohibition's goal was to increase a sense of integrity in the United States, it encouraged normally law-abiding citizens to break the law, enabled the growth and influence of organized crime, and increased levels of corruption in government and law-enforcement.

“The law of unintended consequences is what happens when a simple system tries to regulate a complex system. The political system is simple; it operates with limited information (rational ignorance), short time horizons, low feedback, and poor and misaligned incentives. Society in contrast is a complex, evolving, high-feedback, incentive-driven system. When a simple system tries to regulate a complex system you often get unintended consequences.” (1)

Prohibition was a period of time in which the sale, manufacture, or transport of alcoholic beverages became illegal. It started January 16, 1919 and continued to December 5, 1933. Although it was designed to put an end to all drinking, it simply created a large number of bootleggers who produced and sold illegal alcohol. Many of these bootleggers became very rich and influential through selling alcohol and also through other methods. They pioneered the practices of organized crime that are still used today. Thus, Prohibition led to the rapid growth of organized crime.

Prohibition was an icon of the Roaring Twenties. Proponents of temperance had, for centuries prior, advocated for a federal law against alcohol, and, with the passing of the 18th amendment in 1920, they reached their goal. What advocates saw as a foolproof way to clean up society ended up backfiring and turning the nation towards more than a decade of illegal and immoral behavior that should have been foreseeable. Prohibition was an immense failure because of the unpredicted disobedience that arose and the detrimental effects of this disobedience on society.

Why, and to what extent did the thirteen years of prohibition lead to the rise of organized crime in America? From the year 1920 to the year 1933, the United States of America implemented a nationwide constitutional ban. Under this ban, the 'manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States' [source 2] was illegal. Prohibition was brought into effect due to a movement from 'dry' crusaders.

During the prohibition Era, the production, storage, hauling, and the retailing of intoxicating beverages were all prohibited. This event was led by on by the Woman’s Christian League, the Temperance Union, the Anti-Saloon League, and the Democratic and Republican parties. Since alcohol was illegal during the Prohibition Era, speakeasies and smuggling became a thing that many people got into. The crime also went up. That’s were gangsters such as Al Capone became well-known.

The effects of Prohibition triggered the rise of mass disobedience to its laws and took the amendments advocates by surprise. Prohibition made the gangster not just well paid, but well liked. The idea that money can buy power was verified by gangsters such as Capone: bootlegging funds led to both political and violent physical power. This power enabled gangs to find new avenues to exploit, as well as new ways to run old types business, such as gambling. Similarly, organized crime continues today because of the prohibition on gambling, prostitution and drugs. Where there is demand, there will be supply. Prohibition permanently corrupted law enforcement, the court system, and politics. Organized crime was huge, and it had a lot of money and influence. Policemen and politicians were bribed and blackmailed. Many court cases required payoffs to get a fair hearing. In other words, corruption abounded and the people began distrusting the government. Prohibition harmed people

(Thornton) Within the first few months of prohibition, the number of total arrests increased by about twenty-five percent. Some of the criminals would bribe the police just so that they could continue with their activities. This actually led to them being practically above the law. People wanted to become the producers or distributors because they were thought to have a role of power.

“The public reaction to the introduction of prohibition was mixed. Less than one hour after prohibition took effect six gunmen hijacked a train in Chicago and stole over $100,000 worth of whiskey that was marked for medicinal use”. Prohibition led to organized crime. speakeasies, bootleggers, bathtub gin, and “a national wildness called the roaring twenties." Prohibition turned the small gangs that existed in the early 20th century into the powerful mafias that are still around today.

Some states such as New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts did not enforce the prohibition act of 1920, causing funds to drop to the states for law enforcement agencies(GILDER). The prohibition Caused the rise of organized crime in the United States. Prohibition stated the creation of toxic moonshine, bootleggers used lead coils and lead soldering putting lead in moonshine(PEARSON). Others put additives in moonshine such as iodine and creosote causing blindness or even death. Over 12,000 people died from toxic moonshine Al Capone made over 60 million dollars from Bootlegging that’s 60 million dollars other US citizens lose. Many Bootleggers used Industrial alcohol in Products. The Federal Government started putting more poisonous chemicals in industrial alcohol causing over 10,000 deaths from consumption(PEARSON).Overall there are more negative effects of prohibition in the 1920’s. From poisonous alcohol to enforcement budget cuts it is all negative and is why prohibition failed. Even though prohibition stopped some americans from drinking alcohol it created a new door for new kinds of alcohol to come in to the US. Prohibition is bad in my opinion because it caused unnecessary deaths in america. That sets a final ending to the 18th Amendment in the 1920’s and forever

This is not the only devastating effect organized crime had on america during the Prohibition. They also caused the government to spend a fortune on trying to contain their ruthless behavior. The bureau of the Prohibition was set up to try and pry control of America's cities back from crime bosses. Law enforcement including agencies such as Coast Guard and Customs had to be revamped. This drove Americas law enforcement expenses up 500% to compensate for the violence and contraband running throughout the country. Even though these changes were made corruption still occurred and crooked officers were common. There corruption of the police was a lasting scarring effect as well. The Prohibition introduced organized crime members and crooked cops thus beginning a relationship that lasts today. All these factors of organized crime destroyed a large part of the economy and safety of Americans. The Prohibition was the main cause of the violent crime outbreak already making the Prohibition have a negative on the American people.

The prohibition was a terrible time for america. A lot changed and alot of people didn't like either, even though so much changed it was for the best of america becuase many didn't know what to do about money or so on. The most important reasons was the progressive movement, the volstead act and the repeal and I'm going to tell you why I thin so. First, The progressive movement was a number of stated thought that drinking was behind more of americas more serious problems. Like corruption, child abuse, crime and other things. Henry Ford saw drinking as a huge drag on the econmony. Drunken workers and absentee workers were not good for american business. Next, was the volstead act and among other provisions the volstead act defined a drink as

After the Civil War, immigrants from outside nations, compressed themselves into growing cities, where they found jobs that were like the jobs back at their hometown. This was the beginning of the escalation of the brewing business. German-American entrepreneurs came up with a production to provide all new immigrants with millions of gallons of beer. In 1920, the Prohibition era was established to legalize the abolishment of alcohol sold in the United States. Therefore, causing’s breweries, distilleries, and saloons to close their doors. Prohibition was enacted to reduce beer consumption, it ended up increasing the consumption of liquor instead.

"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this," Albert Einstein. (Internet, quotes on Prohibition, page 1)