Prohibition

Prohibition is the legal act of forbidding the production, sale, or use of a substance or activity by law. Prohibitions have been enacted for various substances, products, and activities across different times and places, often under moral, health, or security justifications. The best-known example is the prohibition of alcohol in the United States in the early 20th century.

In the United States, prohibition began with the 18th Amendment, ratified in 1919, which banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating beverages. The Volstead Act defined the term intoxicating liquor and provided for enforcement. From 1920 to 1933, national prohibition reduced legal availability, but it also spurred bootlegging, speakeasies, corruption, and organized crime. Public health effects are debated, with some reductions in drinking among certain groups and increases in unsafe production practices. Economic consequences included loss of tax revenue and jobs in the legal industry, alongside enforcement costs. Prohibition ended with the 21st Amendment in 1933, which repealed the 18th and allowed regulated, taxed alcohol sales.

Beyond the United States, other periods and places have experimented with prohibition or partial bans, including regional or temporary prohibitions and licensing schemes. Some jurisdictions prohibited particular beverages or sales hours rather than total bans, while many countries shifted toward regulation and taxation of alcohol as public policy tools. Prohibition policies for substances such as narcotics appear in modern contexts as a different class of legal controls, often debated for their effectiveness and social impacts.