The Problem with Prohibition: Ban on Alcohol Actually Created More Crime By Lisa Andersen, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, adapted by Newsela staff on 05.10.17 Word Count 927 Level 1130L

During Prohibition, New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach (second from right) watches agents pour liquor into a sewer in 1921 following a raid. Photo from Library of Congress

The 18th Amendment to the Constitution created Prohibition, when the U.S. outlawed the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors." It was the result of decades of effort by organizations such as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League. The amendment was approved in 1919 and went into effect the following year. It made brewing and distilling liquor illegal. Yet, it had other profound effects. It expanded state and federal government, inspired new ways for men and women to socialize, and changed aspects of life for immigrants and working-class Americans.

During Prohibition's first years, amendment supporters were pleased to see a decline in arrests for drunkenness. Fewer people were treated in the hospital for alcoholism, and there were fewer cases of liver-related medical problems. These

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1 numbers seemed to justify the anti-drinking campaign and to suggest that America's future might include happier families, fewer factory accidents and a superior moral climate.

Soon, it became clear that Prohibition was not working. Enormous numbers of people broke anti-drinking laws and a whole new criminal industry arose around illegal liquor. People who could afford the high price of liquor smuggled from Canada flocked to speakeasies and gin joints. Before Prohibition, saloons and bars had seldom welcomed women. However, the new world of nightclubs invited men and women to drink cocktails together, smoke and dance to jazz music.

Black market liquor fueled crime families

Working-class people began drinking homemade "bathtub gin" and moonshine instead of factory-made liquor. People even found ways to drink the alcohol in perfume, paint and carpentry supplies – even after learning that many of these products contained poisons.

Whether homemade, smuggled from Canada, or made from industrial alcohol, liquor was expensive. Gangsters like Al Capone and George Remus sold alcohol on the black market. They became celebrities, but the reality was that criminal gangs profited from Americans' thirst for liquor. Gangsters then protected those profits by murdering hundreds of their competitors; taking over legitimate businesses and labor unions; and bribing government officials and police.

Some states worked around the federal law

Why did prohibition fail, and why was it repealed? The roots of this problem lay in the wording of the 1919 Volstead Act. Specifically, the federal law mandated "concurrent enforcement" of prohibition. That is, federal agencies and state and local officials all had to enforce the law.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2 Lawmakers argued the Volstead Act would mean widespread enforcement of prohibition, but in reality the opposite happened. For example, in some states, such as New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, many residents were against prohibition. These states had "Prohibition" laws that actually allowed people to buy some wines and beer.

Additionally, there were many strategies for getting around the federal law. Some states refused to repeal existing laws allowing alcohol to be consumed or give enforcement agencies enough money to do their jobs. Federal law enforcement agencies were stretched too thin and didn't have enough money to make much of an impact on American drinking habits, especially when local and state agencies did not cooperate. The federal Prohibition Bureau never had more than 3,000 agents, and about 10 percent of those agents were fired for corruption.

Prohibition cases clogged up the court system

Without the resources to fight the liquor traffic, law enforcement agencies used "sting" operations. Prohibition agents Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith would order a drink, pour the liquor down a funnel and into their pockets, and then arrest the bartender. When word of their tricks spread among bar owners, they began to wear elaborate disguises. By some estimates, the pair made 4,000 arrests in five years.

Only a small percentage of liquor distributors were ever arrested. There were approximately 65,000 federal arrests in the first two years of Prohibition. But even this was enough to cripple the justice system. Jails grew crowded, and judges tried to get quick guilty pleas by promising very small fines. And if a liquor seller did wind up on trial, juries filled with liquor drinkers were often reluctant to find the defendants guilty. Only about 60 percent of cases ended with a conviction.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3 Ending Prohibition required another amendment

Americans not only ignored the 18th Amendment, but worked to overturn it. The Association Against the Prohibition Amendment (AAPA) and the National Organization of Women for Prohibition Reform (NOWPR) opposed Prohibition, claiming it provoked lawlessness. Members of these organizations were often elite business leaders who were suspicious of expanding federal power. By 1928, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, Al Smith, spoke openly of the need to end Prohibition. In 1931, a federal commission reported to President Herbert Hoover that the costs of Prohibition were greater than its benefits. Hoover grudgingly announced his support for repeal in 1932.

The 21st Amendment repealing the 18th Amendment was approved by Congress in 1933.

Most Americans greeted the end of Prohibition with relief. Apart from the obvious, there was another clear benefit that Americans could recognize. The legalization of alcohol meant it could now be taxed by government; the U.S. was in the midst of the Great Depression, and state and federal governments needed money from taxing alcohol sales to pay for relief programs that gave money and jobs to people.

Lisa Andersen teaches at the Juilliard School in New York City. She is writing a book called "Politics Distilled: The Prohibition Party and American Governance, 1869–1933."

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4