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Prohibition Shadows War on Drugs

Time to end the drug war

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 5, 2008 2:13 PM CST

(Newser) – Today marks the 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition, a convenient time to think back on another failed effort to prevent Americans from indulging in mood-altering substances. "A failed drug prohibition can cause greater harm than the drug it was intended to banish," Ethan Nadelmann of the anti-"war on drugs" Drug Policy Alliance writes in the Wall Street Journal.

People had a lot of reasons to vote for the 21st Amendment. Alcohol hadn’t stopped flowing—it had become an unsafe, illicit product funding criminal activities. And the Depression-era economy needed a lift. “There’s nothing like a full-blown recession to make taxpayers question the price of their prejudices,” writes Nadelmann. "That's what ultimately hastened prohibition's repeal."

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

A dancer sneaks a sip from a garter flask during prohibition.

Prohibition enforcement agents pour illicit alcohol down the drain.

Two former prohibition enforcement agents enjoy a drink.

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There's nothing like a depression, or maybe even a full-blown recession, to make taxpayers question the price of their prejudices. - Ethan Nadelmann

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Prohibition Shadows War on Drugs