Marijuana is the fifth most addicting drug in the United States (Henningfield). An even more shocking fact is that two states, Washington and Colorado, have made it legal for recreational use. Just like alcohol. Marijuana used to be legal, up until 1937 when it became illegal with the Marijuana Tax Act. It was only in March 2011 that medical marijuana was legalized in Washington, Colorado, and Alaska because of sick people who had a variety of sick diseases ("Legal History of Cannabis in the United States"). American Society of Addiction Medicine thought that this was a bad idea, and declared that the use of medical marijuana should be put to a stop. This opened up an opportunity for these states to put legalizing recreational marijuana on the ballot. Eventually Washington and Colorado took upon these opportunities and soon legalized marijuana in 2013 with Amendment 64 in Colorado. Now marijuana is legal and open to buy if you are 21 years of age or older. What will legalizing marijuana effect? HIstorians can look to the end of The Prohibition for answers.
Alcohol is the second most addictive drug in the United States (Henningfield). Alcohol kills over 2.5 million people every year! This statistic combines death from alcohol poisoning, as well as drunken driving, etc. The Alcohol Prohibition began in 1920 through 1933. The prohibition was when all alcohol was illegal. This include, the consumption of alcohol, making alcohol and selling it to criminals. In 1933 Congress approved the 21st Amendment ("Alcohol"). The 21st Amendment it allowed sale and consumption of alcohol, that finally ended prohibition. The world thought once alcohol was legalized again that everyone would go drink excessively, crash their cars, and cause a ruckus throughout the United States. Although when it was legalized, the crimes rates went down, and the health went up! There were fewer people in jail and in the hospital. Because alcohol was legal again, people didn’t have to sneak around to get a drink and risk getting arrested. Then there were less people who would try to make their own beer and end up getting alcohol poisoning, so there were less people who would end up in the hospital.
The end of prohibition opened up many job creations for everyone around the U.S.. Everyone was now able to sell beer and alcohol, and made a reasonably good amount of money.
In 1920 following the ratification of the 18th amendment the country became dry. The 18th amendment made it illegal to manufacture, sell, import, or export drinking alcohol. It would stay this way for a little more than a decade, which became known as the prohibition. Prohibition was a way to clean up the cities and improving the conditions of the US. Prohibition was approved because drinking was thought be a drag on the economy and the leading cause for some of the country's problems such as corruption, child abuse, crime, and unemployment. Fourteen years later in 1932 America had changed its mind and it was repealed. So what changed? The American people had changed their minds about the 18th amendment because crime had increased,
Some believes that liquor prohibition was helpful with removing some of the America’s issues. That liquor was a huge drag on the economy. Also that drinking was behind America's most serious problems according to the background essay “Prohibition: Why Did America Change Its Mind?”. Drinking was behind serious issues such as corruption, child abuse, crime, unemployment and worker safety. That is not accurate mainly because during the prohibition, there was an enlargement of crime
The Prohibition or the Eighteenth Amendment was a huge failure for a law in 1920. There were many factors that led to its downfall that included illegal means, rise of gangsters, and the Twenty- First Amendment. Despite the Prohibition, it did not stop the people from drinking it and accessing it through thousands of speakeasies. It became a most lucrative business for criminals that led to dangerous competition. In 1933, the failed amendment was repealed and most people rejoiced that alcohol was legal again. The Eighteenth Amendment was an experiment that went horribly wrong and did absolutely nothing to bring any positive change. This was proof “that you don’t have to be drunk to come up with a really, really, bad idea.” (Carlson. 141)
The 18th Amendment was put into place in 1920, this banned the sale, manufacture, and production of all alcohol. In the first years of this act being applied people saw a big decline in arrest for drunkenness, hospitalization for alcoholism, and liver related problems. Al Capone had a big impact on this by opening speakeasies, hidden bars. this caused people to spend more money and do an illegal act.
Prohibition was a long period of time in U.S. history that lasted nearly fourteen years. The manufacturing, transportation, and sale of liquor was made completely illegal. The period of time known as the prohibition led to the first and only time that an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was repealed. Prohibition was also known as the “Noble Experiment”. Intoxicating liquors were outlawed and many people were very upset about this. Speakeasies, glamor, and gangsters came up in this time and characterized this period in history. Even the most average citizen was known to break the law (Rosenberg). After the American Revolution drinking was definitely on the rise and most people did it. According to Burns and Novick, Prohibition turned law-abiding citizens into criminals, made a mockery of the justice system, caused illicit drinking to seem glamorous and fun (PBS).
Prohibition was designed to rid the country of businesses that manufactured, sold, and or distributed alcoholic beverages. The eighteenth amendment made it a violation of the constitution to do and of the before mentioned. This was a crime punishable up to the Supreme Court. The original idea was that Americans as a whole were unhealthy, there was too much crime and corruption, and that people were being burdened by excess taxes that poorhouses and prisons were creating. What happened? The cheap alcohol being illegally produced killed more Americans, crime and corruption went up, taxes were raised to fund the law enforcement needed to enforce prohibition, and the prisons became overcrowded.
“Prohibition did not achieve its goals. Instead, it added to the problems it was intended to solve.” On 16th January 1920, one of the most common personal habits and customs of American society came to a halt. The eighteenth amendment was implemented, making all importing, exporting, transporting, selling and manufacturing of intoxicating liquors absolutely prohibited. This law was created in the hope of achieving the reduction of alcohol consumption, which in turn would reduce: crime, poverty, death rates, and improve both the economy, and the quality of life for all Americans. These goals were far from achieved. The prohibition amendment of the 1920's was ineffective because it was unenforceable. Instead, it caused various social problems such as: the explosive growth of organized crime, increased liquor consumption, massive murder rates and corruption among city officials. Prohibition also hurt the economy because the government wasn’t collecting taxes on the multi-billion dollar a year industry.
Prohibition caused more problem for america than expected. Although the use of alcohol can be dangerous and pose dangerous threats to the users . Making alcohol illegal seemed to be more harmful because the crime rate increased, the enforcement was poor, and it was bad on the
On January 16, 1919 America changed forever the Amendment declared it illegal to manufacture, transport, and sell alcoholic beverages in the United States. More than two-thirds of the Senate, two-thirds of the House of Representatives, and three-fourths of the state legislature now has approved the change. Prohibition was ruled illegal because drinking is most of America’s serious problems like child abuse, crime, unemployment, and workers safety. People would come to work with a hangover or was really drunk, and some of the workers where probably so drunk that they were absent for work. Then fourteen years later the Amendment was repealed, it was almost as if Americans changed their mind on Prohibition.
While the Eighteenth Amendment, federally enforced prohibition, was ratified on January 16th, 1919; thirty three states had already been enforcing their own prohibitions for much longer. Prohibition was so widely accepted because of the awful effects it was having on the general populace. Throughout the history of the United States alcohol had a place in everyday life. It was not uncommon for it to be had at every meal, and there were even drinking breaks much like the smoke breaks we have in this day and age.(A Nation Of Drunkards. Prohibition: Roots of Prohibition. PBS, n.d. Web.) The staggering amount of alcohol abuse, mainly by men, wrecked havoc on the home lives many; either by lacking income as it was being spent on alcohol, or by domestic abuse. Temperance groups such as Women’s Christian Temperance Union; which fought for women’s rights as well as their dreams of a dry country, and the later Anti-Saloon League strived to get congress to pass an amendment that would abolish the manufacture, distribution, and sale of all liquor. The ASL grew in strength and became a particularly powerful social and political influence, and soon the amendment was ratified. The idea was noble, and for a just cause, however prohibition had the opposite effect than was anticipated. Rather than being the “The great social and economic experiment”(The New Day; Campaign Speeches of Herbert Hoover) that it was supposed to be, it increased crime rates and allowed for the formation of crime syndicates who would make millions in illegal liquor sales through, bootlegging; the illegal production of alcohol, and rum-running; the smuggling of liquor into the United States that was legally produced elsewhere.
In the 1920s, the Prohibition transpired during this golden age. “The Eighteenth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution outlawed the manufacturing and vendition of alcohol nationwide.” (Benson 1264-1268). The Prohibition was enacted because of the mass amounts of violence caused by the consumption of alcohol. Alcohol caused many disruptions through many things in everyday life. The Prohibition started in 1920 and ended in 1933. This Prohibition had actually helped this nation through some difficult times.
The eighteenth Amendment was passed in 1920, which made alcohol illegal. It was called the Prohibition Amendment. This was known as the “Noble Experiment”. All importing, exporting, selling, manufacturing and transporting of alcohol were illegal. The older people favored this amendment. They felt that alcohol was bad because of the way people behaved after drinking. People thought that crime, death rates and poverty would decrease now because alcohol was illegal. The younger generation did not like this amendment. Many people did not really listen to the law. The law actually increased the amount of people drinking alcohol. Some people would try and make alcohol in their own homes. This was called “bathtub gin”. Alcohol would be smuggled from Canada during the twenties (Microsoft Encarta, 1999). Saloons that used to serve liquor were now called speak-easies. Instead of reducing the crimes rates, crime was actually greater. Organized crime was developed because of Prohibition. Sometimes police were bribed and went along with what was going on and would not do anything. The death rates were much higher than before. “Prohibition destroyed legal jobs, created black-market violence, diverted resources from enforcement of other laws and increased prices people had to pay for prohibited goods” (Thorton, Mark 1991). Al Capone was one of the most powerful bootleggers in Chicago, there were many gangs rivales due to prohibition the people who were bootlegging became wealthy because many people wanted alcohol.
Marijuana is a relatively harmless drug that governments around the world have made illegal. If legalized, marijuana can be beneficial to society in a number of ways: whether it be for medical, economic, or public safety reasons. Marijuana has been proven to treat several life debilitating, and even life threatening diseases. Although it is not a cure, marijuana can ease the pain and suffering of a dying person. Another benefit of legalization is the financial gains that governments will accomplish through the taxation of marijuana. This is a realistic claim if marijuana sales are compared to that of cigarettes; governments make billions each year from cigarette taxes (Caputo and Ostrom 484). Every year law enforcement spends countless man-hours trying to apprehend marijuana dealers and growers. This time would be better utilized in dealing with more serious crimes. This essay will display some main reasons why marijuana is a substance with beneficial uses and applications. First, marijuana can be used as a treatment for the effects of diseases such as AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and other terminal diseases. A study carried out in California clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of marijuana as a treatment for cancer: “Over 74 percent of the cancer patients treated in the program have reported that marijuana is more effective in relieving their nausea and vomiting than any other drug they have tried.”(Zeese 1990). Chemotherapy for cancer patients often produces nausea and vomiting. Marijuana has been proven to relieve these symptoms and there have been no known side effects recorded (Ad Hoc Group of Experts part 4).
When you think about the prohibition you typically think of it as something that occurred in the past. I personally have never stopped to consider the lasting impact it had on society such as how expensive it was, the decreased overall health of America and lastly was the rise of organized crime. For example, money was lost in taxes, more money was spent in the enforcement of the law, thousands of people lost their jobs. This lost revenue affects us today in how much we pay for income tax. Which if you ask me is pretty insane the fact that Americans are still paying for something that ended 85 years ago. In addition, due to the fact that alcohol wasn't being produced, people were brewing it themselves which led to many people getting sick from
Prohibition in the United States lasted about 14 years from 1920 to 1933. “Prohibition was the period in United States history in which the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors was outlawed.” . Intoxicating liquors were beginning to ruin the lives of some Americans and it became banned. “Prohibition, members of the Temperance movement urged, would stop husbands from spending all the family income on alcohol and prevent accidents in the workplace caused by workers who drank during lunch” . Alcohol was beginning to tear families apart and some wanted to finally outlaw all of the alcohol which would make life easier. In the beginning organizations pushed moderation, but after some decades the organizations’ focus’ turned into the idea of complete prohibition . Although the idea of total prohibition was far-fetched it eventually began. The 18th amendment brought about complete prohibition to all of the United States, with this amendment prohibition in the United States was finally established.