ABSTRACT
Prohibition has for some eighty years been the policy of a section of the American public; this policy found favour with a steadily increasing proportion of the total population; and it eventually culminated in the National Prohibition Act of 1920. When this Act was passed, nearly half the total population of the United States was living under local or State prohibition already, and prohibition was enforced in sections of a large number of additional States. Individual States decided in favour of total prohibition of the sale of alcoholic drinks within their borders, the first being Maine in 1846. The American Medical Association passed a resolution that not only did they oppose the use of alcohol as a beverage, but discouraged the use of alcohol as a therapeutic agent. However, while prohibition gave increased temptations and opportunities for lawlessness and violence, it did not originate these evils.
