The American Journal of Public Health has published an article in its most recent issue by a Canadian (!!!) who is claiming that alcohol Prohibition actually worked. Yes, that Prohibition. The one which catapulted the American mafia into the mainstream. The one that led to countless deaths from toxic bath tub gin and other home brews. The one that resulted in the only amendment to the American Constitution to be repealed.

Here's the abstract (which is all you're going to get at the AJPH website - I encourage you to seek out the full text in your local library, it's in the Feb 2006 96(2) issue):

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.

Thanks, Ethan R., for the heads up.

Tags: Prohibition, Volstead Act, Eighteenth Amendment, Canada.