Return Prohibition

Remember me talking about those papers that I have written for my classes? Well I have more, and I just now thought of posting them on here. And I have come across my history papers that may bring some interesting facts that you would be interested in. But for now, this is Return Prohibition. Remember, I have kept all citations in so that I did credit the author when doing the research.

“When will alcohol stop being the cause of so many accidents and deaths?” I always ask myself that same question when I look on the front page of the paper, or watching the headline news on the television and seeing a new death from alcohol. And my answer always comes to the same conclusion: as long as alcohol is legal, these accidents and deaths will continue to occur. And as long as the government’s lack of involvement continues, the constant problems will be in sight.

Although the deaths and accidents related to drunk driving in 1999 were lower than previous years, 15,786 people died that year due to drunk driving. According to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, alcohol-related collisions still kill 43 people a day. And according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alcohol was the cause of the 2.7 million car crashes in 1998. The CDC also says that Americans drink and drive 123 million times a year (“Drunken Driving”).

We also face the threat of underage drinking. Over ten million of the nation’s youth has consumed alcohol year by year, according to the Health and Human services. The University of Michigan says that 30 percent of high school students and 43 percent of college students have been involved in binge drinking. Among college students, 70 percents of campus violence, 58 percent of sexual assaults, 68 percent of school failings, 90 percent of hazing deaths, and half of youth suicides are outcomes due to alcohol (Underage Drinking).

And the numbers continue to look gruesome when you look at how many people actually consume alcohol on a regular basis. Over 52 percent of adults in the nation are regular drinkers with only 13 percent for infrequent drinkers. That means that half of the mature nation is at risk of dying or killing someone of alcohol related events, and also may face alcoholism. With these statistics, we are not surprised to hear that over 37,000 people died from liver disease and other alcohol-induced actions 2007 (Faststats). With those bad numbers, it makes many people wonder why it is all legal.

During of the days of prohibition, when all alcohol products were illegal throughout the nation, consumption dropped drastically, during a time when consumption was more. The United States Brewers’ Association said that consumption fell 30 percent, and hard liquor fell 50 percent. The arrests for drunkenness also fell and all illegal alcohol sales rose higher than what an average citizen could afford. Prohibition caused the majority of the nation to end their drinking days for a moment. But sadly, the prohibition was shortly lived, returning the days with alcohol, and staying until present day (Volstead Act).

But during prohibition, there were as many good qualities as there were bad qualities. During the prohibition age, organized crime was at large, most of it through bootlegging. The speakeasies, which were tied to these groups, sold the goods illegally and brought a nice profit due to the high prices. It was also common to see authority figures on the payroll of these groups including political figures and police. Al Capone, well known for being involved in organized crime, had half of Chicago’s police on his payroll (1920 Prohibition). So you are right, bringing back prohibition methods would surely bring back all of the baggage that the first one contained. But there is a better way that I think could make a future “dry” nation.

I hold the government responsible for not being able to make prohibition successful, as well as not being able to bring it back into law now. Their lack of not enforcing the law well enough led to the rise of crime, which lead to the secret sales of alcohol. And staying in the pockets of the organizers running the bootlegger businesses only helped them sale their merchandise and avoid raids from the few honest Americans that followed the law. It is plain and simple: If government enforced the law, and stayed out of pockets of anyone that opposes the law, then prohibition could be successful.