Repeal Prohibition and Deal with Real Problems
By Conor Mulcrone
In the early years of the Great Depression, prohibition was still in place, and the production and sale of alcohol was illegal. The fight for prohibition had been a long struggle until alcohol was made illegal by the 18th amendment. Even before the 18th amendment, the production and sale of alcohol had already been restricted by the Volstead Act. However, when the Great Depression started, the critics’ voices grew louder as they felt that supporters were holding back the economy, and the repeal of the 18th amendment would allow for more economic opportunities amid a period of economic and industrial struggle. This did not deter supporters of prohibition from fighting for the continuation of prohibition. The critics of prohibition believed that there were more important issues to worry about than alcohol consumption. Eventually the critics got their wish as the 18th amendment was repealed in 1933.
While prohibition was intended to eliminate drinking in the U.S., it created other problems, such as organized crime. Even though prohibition was in the Constitution, many people felt that the country should focus on more important issues facing the country. Organized crime was one major issue that people felt deserved more attention than prohibition. Notorious figures like Al Capone had major illegal influence in major cities making money selling alcohol that was made illegal by prohibition. Gang wars were famously violent and non-gang members sometime got caught in the crossfire. Critics such as Carey Orr, the artist of the cartoon, found irony in the implementation of prohibition, highlighting how a shot of alcohol was unconstitutional while gun shots were not. Gun violence led people to question if prohibition was as important of an issue as other problems such as organized crime and economic crisis.