Volstead Act
The Volstead Act of 1919 was the law that made
the sale of alcoholic beverages
illegal, supporters of this act thought that
this would make the country better
as a whole. They said this law would lower
crime rates and would increase the
health of Americans. This law did the
exact opposite of what they expected,
overnight this law created a black
market that lead to the rise of organized
crime. The health of people who
drank alcoholic beverages also decreased because
there was no quality control
in the illegal market. Thousands of Americans were
poisoned by the impurities
of the illegal Alcohol. These are just some of the
reasons why I think that
Prohibition was not the best law that we could have
come up with. The new
laws on alcohol are much better because they do not
completely ban the sales
of alcohol, they just limit who can buy it and when.
This is much better
because the drinks are much safer, distilled properly and
the percentage of
alcoholic contend is controlled. Another reason why this law
was not
reasonable is because of the time period that it took place in, this was
in
the middle of the great depression and there could have been many more
jobs
if they did not ban the sales of alcohol. Prohibition was not a well
thought out
amendment and next time the people want to ban the sales of
something they
should consider what will happen after they do. A couple of
good thing that
ended up coming out of this was they set an age limit on the
purchasing and
drinking of alcohol, which probably is safer than if they just
let people of all
ages do it. They have also came up with many good laws for
drinking and driving
to make the roads safer, and they are starting to make
the laws more strict than
they already are. Prohibition did the exact
opposite of what the people who
supported it thought it would do and that is
why it only lasted from 1920-1933.
This law manufactured bootleggers and
many organized crime groups. Although it
was not a good law it was probably
good in the long run because maybe next time
a group of people want to ban
the sales of something they will think of the
consequences of what will
happen if they do.