America imposed prohibition (ban on sale of alcoholic
drinks) with a national zeal in year
.The law makers thought that it would purge the society of ills of
drunkenness but they were surprised to find mafias mushrooming in the country.
Law and order worsened to the extent that dozens would be killed in liquor
related ‘crimes’. What had been an ordinary business turned into lucrative
smuggling. America tried its best to enforce prohibition, but kept on failing
before powerful cartels and mafia families.
The law makers had realized that it was their mistake
banning alcohol in the country. What had had remained a food commodity for
centuries, they had made a drug out of it and created mafias and criminal gangs
in the country. In the year 1933, the US had had enough of the prohibition, the
law makers brought in the 18th constitutional amendment which ended
the ban on alcohol. The prices of liquor fell overnight. All the liquor-related
smuggling issues vanished, giving rise to another interesting phenomenon.
When the former bootleggers and criminals had no way to make
money, they turned to bank robberies and kidnappings. America witnessed a surge
in these crimes.
Recently, many countries in the world are removing marijuana
from the list of banned intoxicants. The results have been encouraging. Their
trade is regularized, which gives the government a fair idea of number of drug
users and the amount consumed by them. Statistics have been analyzing the data
to formulate future government policies to reduce its consumption.
