Why was prohibition lifted

The same went for wine. In , the state finally granted its counties the option to sell liquor by the drink in bars and nightclubs. Later, the state relaxed some laws. Wineries are allowed to sell wine on site. While four other states also have the 3.

The variety of state laws shows not only that the Prohibition era has had a lasting effect on society but that people still disagree about regulating alcoholic beverages.

Every state has specific laws at least specifying the age people may buy alcohol, hours and locations where alcohol may be sold, the kind of licenses required to sell alcohol in bars, stores, restaurants and to manufacture and transport beer, wine and hard liquor distilled spirits such as whiskey, vodka and gin. The U. Owners of breweries, wineries and hard liquor-making distilleries seeking to sell their wares must obtain a federal permit from the U.

Treasury Department before making anything, and then pay federal taxes on every gallon they produce. States, counties and cities also set their own taxes on liquor sales. In fact, liquor taxes are an important source of government revenue. So why are we locking up responsible citizens who happen to use a certain drug?

If a person struggles with drug misuse and wants to go to treatment they should have on-demand access. But if somebody occasionally uses drugs and leads a functioning lifestyle and contributes to society and their community, they don't belong locked in a cage. Even Bill Clinton gets it. In the film, Breaking the Taboo, he said, "If the expected result was that we would eliminate serious drug use in America and eliminate the narco-trafficking networks, it hasn't worked.

I look forward to the days when nobody gets arrested simply for using or possessing a drug. It's the future of drug policy. Some countries are already experimenting with different policies and conversations are happening at the global level calling for alternatives to prohibition. Portugal has a year head start and shows us another world is possible. Manager of social media and media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance.

Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost? News U. On December 5, , three states voted to repeal Prohibition, putting the ratification of the 21st Amendment into place. But did Prohibition really end on that fateful day? In some ways it did, but just as it had taken a while for laws to be enacted after the passage of the 18th Amendment in , winding down those laws also took some time.

Congress first proposed the 21st Amendment in February , and it took the unusual method of calling for state conventions to vote on the amendment, instead of submitting it to state legislatures. By the s, it was clear that Prohibition had become a public policy failure.

The 18th Amendment to the U. Constitution had done little to curb the sale, production and consumption of intoxicating liquors. And while organized crime flourished, tax revenues withered. With the United States stuck in the throes of the Great Depression , money trumped morals, and the federal government turned to alcohol to quench its thirst for desperately needed tax money and put an estimated half-million Americans back to work.

In February , Congress easily passed a proposed 21st Amendment that would repeal the 18th Amendment, which legalized national Prohibition. Even 17 of the 22 senators who voted for Prohibition 16 years earlier now approved its repeal.