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Alcohol Prohibition

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Encyclopedia of Law and Economics

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Synonyms

Banning; Barring; Disallowing; Forbidding; Outlawing

Definition

Alcohol prohibition was a period from 1920 to 1933 in the United States of America where the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating beverages was made illegal.

Alcohol Prohibition

The national prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States of America lasted from January 16, 1920, to December 5, 1933. This period of time has become known as the “Noble Experiment,” a phrase coined by President Herbert Hoover. Alcohol prohibition was instituted by the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which stated, “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” The Volstead Act was put into place for the purpose of enforcing this constitutional amendment. The experiment was meant to alleviate...

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References

  • Cowan RC (1986) A war against ourselves: how the narcs created crack. Natl Rev 5:26–31

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  • Fisher I (1927) Prohibition at its worst. Alcohol Information Committee, New York

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  • Fisher I (1928) Prohibition still at it worst. Alcohol Information Committee, New York

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  • Fisher I (1930) The noble experiment. Alcohol Information Committee, New York

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  • Thornton M (1991) Alcohol prohibition was a failure. Policy Anal 157

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  • Warburton C (1932) The economic results of prohibition. Columbia University Press, New York

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Further Reading

  • Okrent D (2010) Last call: the rise and fall of prohibition. Scribner, New York

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  • Thornton M (1991) The economics of prohibition. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN, USA

    Nicholas A. Snow

Authors
  1. Nicholas A. Snow
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas A. Snow .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Montpellier, France

    Alain Marciano

  2. Dept DiGSPES, Univ del Piemonte Orientale Dept DiGSPES, Alessandria, Italy

    Giovanni Battista Ramello

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Snow, N.A. (2021). Alcohol Prohibition. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_626-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_626-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Alcohol Prohibition
    Published:
    19 August 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_626-2

  2. Original

    Alcohol Prohibition
    Published:
    07 July 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_626-1

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