18th Amendment

"Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article 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 is hereby prohibited.

Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress."

Prohibition. is there anything to say about this? I can see what the intention behind all this could have been. Nevertheless, if somethin is forbidden it is even more attractive to people. We all know this from our childhood. Alcohol is not the demon. It is just the abuse of it and therefore it is the human who has to control him-/herself. It cannot be condemned, but there has to be teached a responsible handling of legal drugs in teenager years. Teenagers drink here too, even if it is not legal.

"Prohibition in the 1920s

The 18th Amendment Made Alcohol Illegal

Jan 14, 2009 Kim Kenney
 

The organization began life as a state organization. After 1895, however, the League became a powerful national organization. The League was a non-partisan organization focused on the single issue of prohibition. It had branches across the United States to work with churches in marshalling resources for the prohibition fight.

In 1913, in a 20th anniversary convention held in Columbus, Ohio the League announced its campaign to achieve national prohibition through a constitutional amendment.
Allied with other temperance forces, especially the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the League in 1916 oversaw the election of the two-thirds majorities necessary in both houses of Congress to initiate what became the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

How Did Prohibition Happen?

Those working for the passage of the amendment were highly organized, but those who were against it were hardly organized at all.
The horrific world war took precedence in many people’s minds, and alcohol seemed a “trifling matter.” The Prohibitionists seized the opportunity to mobilize. They made it seem patriotic to conserve grain for the war effort and therefore not drink alcohol. They further extended the cause by arguing if a sober soldier was a better soldier, and a sober factory worker a better factory worker, then Prohibition made perfect sense.

Influence of World War I

In wartime, people become accustomed to the government having wide powers and control. Within this context, it did not seem that far-fetched for the government to control alcohol consumption.
In addition, the war turned public opinion against anything German, and many breweries were run by people of German decent.

The 18th Amendment

With sympathetic politicians in place, the Eighteenth Amendment easily passed on December 18, 1917 and was ratified two years later.
At the time, no one seemed to comprehend that the law would be difficult to enforce. And certainly no one understood how Prohibition would lead to so much organized crime.
The Amendment read, in part, “After one year from the ratification of this article 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 is hereby prohibited.

The Volstead Act

The Eighteenth Amendment went into effect on January 16, 1920. Temperance enthusiasts held a mock funeral for "King Alcohol." Opponents said a sad eulogy for their dearly departed friend, "John Barleycorn."
Plainly put, it banned the sale, manufacture, importation, and transportation of liquor. Private citizens could still keep liquor in their homes and serve it to their friends, but they could not make it, sell it, transport it, or import it.
To help enforce the law, Congress passed the Volstead Act, which defined what an intoxicating liquor was and outlined specific punishments for violations. It was deemed that anything with more than of 1% alcohol was now illegal. For the first offense you could be jailed up to 6 months plus a $1000 fine. For a second offense, you could serve up to 5 years in jail with a fine of $10,000 -- an exorbitant sum in the 1920s!

Padlock Laws

In addition, “padlock laws” allowed agents to close an establishment that was serving alcohol for up to one year. The government could also seize any automobile used to transport liquor illegally.
Enforcement was never consistent across the United States. The Prohibition Bureau, which was part of the Department of Justice, was understaffed and underfunded. Some states refused to appropriate any money to hire additional officers to enforce the Volstead Act.
Many communities did go "dry," and liquor violations began to clog the federal court system."

Source: http://www.suite101.com/content/prohibition-in-the-1920s-a90037

There is one sentence that made me think about this article. I know, that many breweries are German and therefore brewers might be of German decent. But has this anything to do with prohibition? There have been other predocts Germany has been known for and they have not been banned- so i cannot understand what the hate on Germany and the 1st Wolrd War would have to do with Prohibition.

Ok, prohibition has created a lot of crime and has not been right. But this does not mean, the same happens with Marijuhana. One has to draw a line in my opinion. I am not saying I am for or against the legalization of marijuhana. But it is a gateway drug and can lead to taking more aggressive drugs. I have experienced this myself with people I thought I knew.