2005/12/28 by Jack S. Blocker · 202 citations
Engineering · Medicine · Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics · #Action (physics) #Alcohol #Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects #Alcohol consumption #Business #Consumption (sociology) #Engineering #Environmental health #Law #Medicine #Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare #Political science #Politics #Public health #Repeal #Sociology #Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes #Work (physics)
paper · open access · doi:10.2105/ajph.2005.065409
published in American Journal of Public Health 96(2), 233-243 (American Public Health Association)
openalex publication_date 2005/12/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/17
The conventional view that National Prohibition failed rests upon an historically flimsy base. The successful campaign to enact National Prohibition was the fruit of a century-long temperance campaign, experience of which led prohibitionists to conclude that a nationwide ban on alcohol was the most promising of the many strategies tried thus far. A sharp rise in consumption during the early 20th century seemed to confirm the bankruptcy of alternative alcohol-control programs. The stringent prohibition imposed by the Volstead Act, however, represented a more drastic action than many Americans expected. Nevertheless, National Prohibition succeeded both in lowering consumption and in retaining political support until the onset of the Great Depression altered voters' priorities. Repeal resulted more from this contextual shift than from characteristics of the innovation itself.