How Is Prohibitionism Corrupt?

Prohibitionist linked alcohol to social problems, immorality, criminality and corrupt politics as well as the breakdown of the family. Americans were willing to drink alcohol illegally, which gave rise to the illegal production and sale of liquor. Organized crime capitalized on illegal drinking establishments. According to Levinthal, 2012, Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcohol, except for industrial use. Bootleggers mixed their own concoctions of distorted liquor. Other manufacturers sold medicinal whiskey in drugstores mixed with chemicals unfit for drinking. Gangs in different cities did business with each other; they were also involved in narcotics traffic, gambling, prostitution, loan sharking and extortion. “Nine months after the amendment was passed, it was followed by passage of the Volstead Act…The Volstead Act provided for the federal enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment by creating a Prohibition Bureau under control of the Treasury Department” (Levinthal, 2012 pg. 57). Neither the Volstead Act nor the Eighteenth Amendment was enforced with little success, the prohibition bureau was suspected being corrupt because some of the agents left law enforcement to venture out to make by selling alcohol. Bootleggers started smuggling liquor into the United States from across the borders and seacoasts. “ The U.S. Coast Guard’s pursuit and sinking of the rumrunner I’m Alone caused a major liquor spill in the Gulf of Mexico and sparked an international incident” (Ricci, 2013). The distribution of liquor was more complex than other
e., & Mosher, J. F. (2011). Public health, state alcohol pricing policies, and the dismantling of the 21st amendment: A LEGAL ANALYSIS. Journal of Medicine & Law, 15(2), 177-201.
Levinthal, C. (2012). Drugs, Crime, and Criminal Justice, pg.57 (3rd ed.) Prentice Hall.
RICCI, J. A. (2013). 'USE ALL FORCE!’ Naval History, 27(3),