In 1920, the U.S. Government banned the manufacture, import, transport, and sale of alcoholic beverages, to cure what it saw as the cause of the ills of society. During the period through to 1933, when it finally came to its senses, organized crime entered the supply chain in the form of the organization we now know as the Mafia.
Other unintended consequences included
- Consumption continued at 60% of the pre-prohibition rate, rising to 80% by the end of the failed experiment.
- Within one week, ‘grow your own’ stills were on sale throughout the country so people could make their own moonshine.
- In the first year, total crime increased by 23%, homicide by 12%, and drug addiction by a staggering 44%.
- Americans became accustomed to consuming stronger liquor because smugglers found it easier to conceal
- The exercise failed miserably in its primary goal of producing a generation believing in temperance.
The U.S. Government subsequently introduced a more rational program to regulate manufacture, import, transport, and sale of alcoholic beverages. It has however never managed to rein in the organized crime syndicates it inspired.
John D. Rockefeller Jr., who has supported prohibition later wrote, “… drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before.”
Recent attempts by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to extend its ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas is irrational given lessons learned during prohibition. While we support the basis of controlling marijuana access to children, there are already adequate regulations in place to achieve this.
The San Diego ban has had little success in constricting the supply chain. Illegal ‘dispensary’ numbers skyrocketed in the past year. They are in it for a quick buck. They show little reticence to sell marijuana to anybody, including minors. They don’t do health and safety checks, and they don’t pay taxes either.
This is a small sample of what will happen if San Diego continues with its policy, if the Attorney General cracks down, or both. Close to a century of marijuana prohibition has not even begun to achieve marijuana abolition. We agree wholeheartedly with the San Diego Union-Tribune that the Board of Supervisors should, “Accept the responsibility of honoring the will of the county’s voters.”