Prohibition In The 1930's

Improved Essays
such as spirits. It also gave rise to organized crime, and a notorious black market embedded throughout major cities. The issues of the prohibition in the 1920’s, and throughout the 1930’s, can be related to the problems in the United States currently. The laws and regulations controlling alcohol during the prohibition led to a rise in crime. The same can be said today. Young adults are finding ways to buy alcohol illegally, whether it be from peers of a higher age, or willing guardians. This also leads to the alcohol being consumed behind closed doors, under parental supervision, which in some states is legal. In Virginia, according to § 4.1-200, Exemptions from Licensure, “Any person who keeps and possesses lawfully acquired alcoholic beverages …show more content…
The National institute on alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that in 2013, 24.6 percent of people age eighteen or older say they engaged in “binge drinking” in the past month of when the survey is given, and in that same month, another 6.8 percent report that they engage in heavy drinking. The NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking [that] brings the blood alcohol concentration levels to 0.08 g/dL in about two hours [of drinking]”. They define “heavy drinking” as “5 or more alcoholic drinks on the same occasion on at least one day in the past 30 days.” The prevalence of heavy drinking and binge drinking with college students is substantial. In 2013, 39 percent of college student between the ages of eighteen and twenty one engaged in binge drinking, and 12.7 percent engaged in heavy drinking (“Alcohol Facts and Statistics”). Consequences of heavy alcohol consumption during the teenage years can result in the interference of normal adolescent brain development, and an increase in the risk of developing an alcohol use disorder (“Alcohol Facts and Statistics”). The reason for these alarming numbers is the lack of education on the subject of drinking with, not only young adults, but the Nation as a …show more content…
Scott Walter, an associate Professor of behavioral sciences at the University Of Texas School Of Public Health in Dallas, Texas, agrees on the lowering of the drinking age in the United States. In his article, “If the Drinking Age Were Lowered, What Then? A View From the Year 2020,” he creates a situation where the legal drinking age is lowered to eighteen, and alcohol consumption at the fictional college is allowed. Walters mentions certain educational programs at the college that will solve the current issues we have today, by relating those issues solved in a future reference. In the article, a “basic alcohol safety course” is mentioned, which teaches young adults the dangers of alcohol, and how

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Evaluate the appropriateness of using SASSI-3 with young adult clients presenting problem drinking on a college campus. Alcohol consumption is a social norm to college students. Unfortunately, the amount of college students that binge drink is extremely high, which shows negative effects of absenteeism, injury, poor grades, unwanted sexual behaviors, etc. (Laux, Salyers, & Kotova, 2005) In a two week time frame, two in five students admitted to binge drinking.…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In her article “Lowering the Drinking Age Has Serious Consequences,” Tara Watson, an associate professor of economics and chairwoman of the Program in Public Health at Williams College, argues that if the drinking age were to be lowered, the consequences would be severe and even fatal. Although Watson presents a good argument, there are many flaws that come with it. I disagree with her article, not for the sole purpose of myself being a minor, but because there are legitimate reasons as to why the drinking age should be lowered. Her argument is heavily biased and relies solely on the current negative impacts of underage drinking. Watson argues that “Alcohol consumption by young adults has demonstrable and serious costs: for example, a lower…

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    1919 Prohibition Dbq

    • 1377 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The 1919 Experiment known as the Prohibition “When the Mayor of Berlin, Gustav Boess, visited New York City in the fall of 1929, one of the questions he had for his host, Mayor James J. Walker, was when Prohibition was to go into effect. The problem was that Prohibition has already been the law of the United States for nearly a decade. That Boess had to ask tells you plenty about how well it was working” (PBS). Ironically in 1919 the eighteenth amendment was put into place for the benefit of society that make illegal “manufacture, sale, or transportation intoxicating liquors”. This ratification brought on many changes to American society.…

    • 1377 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Crime and prohibition was a large factor in the 1920’s. Prohibition or the 18th amendment was made to ban the manufacturing, transportation and sale of alcohol. In the 1920’s many people consumed alcohol. The main reason that prohibition was created was to reduce crime and corruption in America, this law was not easy to enforce. Instead of decreasing crime, prohibition increased it.…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Prohibition is the period in the 1920s and 1930s when most alcoholic beverages were banned, yet it was still made and distributed regardless of the law and consequences. Temperance Takes Over During the early 1900s, the Temperance Movement was booming because alcohol was considered to be the source of society’s flaws. To counter the increased percentage of drinking, Drys, or people who supported Prohibition, began to form Temperance organizations. Primarily led by women, these groups fought mainly for women everywhere to stop domestic violence and wasting of the husbands income on booze.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Prohibition was a law that the government passed to prohibit manufacturing, transporting, and selling of alcohol. Most people thought that this amendment would be great, but they found out that it was actually benefiting the criminals. This was a very valuable time for the racketeers, gangsters, and bootleggers. Many factors led to prohibition such as bad decision, loss in relationships, and losing your job. When you are under the influence of alcohol, you tend to make bad choices.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Causes And Effects Of Prohibition In The 1920s

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited

    Prohibition was supposed to end many social problems in our country, but instead increased organized crime and never really ended the social problems. Alcohol was available because bootleggers would smuggle alcohol into the United States from Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas. The illegal alcohol would be taken to speakeasies which were illegal saloons. They were called speakeasies because you were not supposed to talk about them. Many police officers did not enforce the laws because they were bribed to keep quiet about speakeasies, and many officers were regular customers (Freshet).…

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    College is an exciting time for many young adults. It is the first step towards adulthood and for a majority of students it’s the first time they experience independence. “Alcohol consumption in humans is the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States (McGinnis & Foege, 1993). A common abuse pattern called binge drinking contributes to a substantial portion of alcohol-related deaths (Chikritzhs, Jonas, Stockwell, Heale, & Dietze, 2001)”. Though with freedom comes responsibility.…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When a person turns 18, he or she is allowed to vote, enlist in the military, get married, serve on juries, and partake in many other parts of adult life except for consuming alcohol. S. Georgia Nugent, president emerita of Kenyon College claims that “the illogic of the situation is patent”(Nugent). Students are taught from a young age to make rational decisions based on logical arguments. Nugent asserts “In the case of the minimum drinking age, they can hardly look to their elders to find that kind of behavior modeled”(Nugent). She argues the irrationality of the current drinking, and I agree because of the amount of other responsibilities 18 year olds receive when they become an adult.…

    • 1622 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The age of underage drinking should be lowered to eighteen years of age in order to combat the social drinking normality of recklessness and alcohol abuse. This may change the perspective of young people from a sinful, pleasureful activity to one that is casual and laid-back. Using the information gathered, by lowering the law to eighteen years the stigma can be less present throughout the most susceptible group. Any alcohol abuse younger than eighteen may be detrimental to the child’s growth. The brain is still developing at younger ages and may cause damage to itself as well as neurocognitive deficits and other physical symptoms (Zeigler et al., 2005)…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Prohibition In The 1920s

    • 2378 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Prohibition in the 1920s By definition, prohibition is the forbidding by law of the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic liquors except for medicinal and sacramental purposes (Prohibition 2). This is very ironic because in the 1920s, during the prohibition, thousands of big city law officers were paid off to look the other way when alcohol was being illegally transported and distributed(Gingold). People would think that if they took the trouble to make alcohol illegal, the police officers would be willing to do their jobs and do them well. The eighteenth amendment, also known as Prohibition, was designed to reduce alcohol related crimes and to boost other entertainment industries, but…

    • 2378 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Prohibition of 1920s, the banning of selling and transporting alcohol, was enforced through the Volstead Act, which was actually so important because this failure revealed this fact that banning something can have the opposite effect which makes it more desirable. At first, The Anti-Saloon League and Woman's Christian Temperance Union began supporting the prohibition, which caused the rise of it, but as time passed, rising crimes showed that it was nothing but a failure. Since the prohibition didn’t really work, in early 1933 congress proposed the 21st Amendment to the constitution which repealed the 18th Amendment. One of the most important reasons of this failure was the creation of the Speakeasies and the Bootleggers; immediately,…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Organized Crime During Prohibition Organized crime existed long before the 1920’s, but it wasn’t as organized or as huge. Their rise in America was mostly due to bootlegging. Prohibition allowed organized crime to flourish and increase its effectiveness. Organized crime greatly affected, and was affected by, prohibition. “Prohibition was a unique economic opening for this generation- an opening unlike anything that previous generations of criminals had known, an opportunity whereby a man who might today be described as an underachiever or social misfit could achieve status”(Mappen 4).…

    • 1252 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction of Prohibition Prohibition was introduced to all American states apart from Maryland in 1920. Prohibition was the banning of alcohol; you could be arrested for sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol. There were many factors that influenced the introduction of prohibition, One of the main factors was the temperance movements two examples of this were the anti-saloon league and Women’s Christian temperance movement. The temperance movements were at the strongest in rural areas, they put pressure on state governments to introduce prohibition. They put pressure on them by claiming the Damage to drinkers health they also protested that the sale in alcohol produced crime and…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The tradition of college drinking has been handed down for many generations emerging into a type of culture with its own customs and belief systems. Many students view college drinking as a “coming of age liberty” and vital to their social success. Environmental and peer influence also contribute to the culture. These active and passive views of college drinking have instilled a powerful influence over the student’s behavior relating to alcohol consumption. So is binge drinking an issue amongst two-year colleges or do we find it to be more prevalent within four-year colleges?…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics