Did more people drink during prohibition in America?
Asked by
JLeslie (
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January 22nd, 2013
I know most people agree prohibition didn’t work, but did it stop some people from drinking alcohol? There was ilegal alcohol being made and sold; it kind of drove alcohol production and consumption underground, but what I wonder is what percentage of the population was drinking at that time? And, how many were drinking immediately before and after prohibition? Or, how many even now compared to then?
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6 Answers
I believe I saw some figures to that effect at one point, but I can’t remember where.
Interesting information on this subject here
Not exactly. The incidence of cirrhosis of the liver dropped substantially from 1920 when Prohibition was enacted till 1925 or so. So did alcohol related deaths and deaths from alcoholism. But then as more and more people realized there was a market for booze, bathtub gin came in and all the statistics shot back up so that by 1933 when we repealed prohibition, it appears that alcohol consumption was at or above what it had been prior to the experiment.
It’s just hard to gather accurate statistics when guys like Al Capone control production, because they don’t tend to report their production levels to the Feds.
I think anytime you make anything illegal, it may not stop the problem, but it will certainly cut it down to a degree.
Now if they could just outlaw senseless media, such as what the Kardashians are up to or which drug Lindsey Lohan is on this week.
I was curious because of the marijuana debate. A jelly on here once said they voted in favor of legalizing in California and now regret it. Another jelly said a friend of theirs said legalizing drugs all sounds good until you go to a place where it is legal and then you change your mind.
Probably not… it just went underground.
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