ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Prohibition's Boost to Organized Crime

Updated on April 5, 2010

Prohibition in the United States was set into motion by the Eighteenth Amendment to the national Constitution and the Volstead Act (“Prohibition”). Prohibition’s purpose was to ban the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol (“Prohibition”). “The onset of Prohibition unleashed an unsurpassed level of criminal violence, and violence is the specialty of the gangs” (Abadinksky, 2003, p. 67). Prohibition provided opportunities for gangs to grow into organized crime empires and “led to a new level of criminal organization” (Abadinksky, 2003, p. 67). Prohibition acted as a catalyst for the growth of organized crime by providing an illegal structure for organized crime to generate revenue while denying the government tax revenue on alcohol. Prohibition also caused many health problems due to production of alcohol by “unregulated clandestine home manufacturers” (“Prohibition”).

Organized crime flourished under Prohibition by providing opportunities “for organized crime to take over the importation (“bootlegging”), manufacture, and distribution of alcoholic beverages. Al Capone, one of the most infamous bootleggers of them all, built his criminal empire largely on profits from illegal alcohol” (“Prohibition”). The organized crime families used their experience “gained by years of struggle against reformers and concealed agreements with politicians was brought into service in the organizing and distribution of beer and whiskey” (Abadinksky, 2003, p. 109). Prohibition allowed organized crime members to take advantage of political connections and utilize criminal networks already established.

.

Prohibition resulted in a significant loss in government revenue. “From 1919 to 1929, federal tax revenues from distilled spirits dropped from $365 million to less than $13 million, and revenue from fermented liquors from $117 million to virtually nothing” (Blocker, 2006, p. 236). The “cost of enforcing prohibition was high, and the lack of tax revenues on alcohol (some $500 million annually nationwide) affected government coffers” (“Prohibition”) . Prohibition’s attempt to clean up America resulted in significant revenue loss for the government and significant revenue gain for organized crime.

Prohibition resulted in numerous health problems stemming from a lack of government oversight in alcohol manufacturing. “There were many cases of people going blind or suffering from brain damage after drinking “bathtub gin” made with industrial alcohol or various poisonous chemicals” (“Prohibition”). Other unregulated alcohol manufacturing methods also caused health issues, such as “amateur distillers used old automobile radiators to distill liquor, and the subsequent product was dangerously high in lead salts – which usually led to fatal lead poisoning” (“Prohibition”). Some argue that health related problems resulting from prohibition are minimal compared to cirrhosis and alcoholism that would have flourished without prohibition (Blocker, 2006). There is no proof, however, that cirrhosis and alcoholism would have flourished without prohibition.

The government finally realized prohibition was ineffective and only resulted in an increase in organized crime, a decrease in government revenue, and numerous health problems as a result of unregulated alcohol manufacturing practices. “The conclusive proof of Prohibition’s failure is, of course, the fact that the Eighteenth Amendment became the only constitutional amendment to be repealed” (Blocker, 2006, p. 233). Prohibition provided the catalyst that fueled organized crime growth. Organized crime sustains itself now by controlling illegal activities such as prostitution and drug trafficking. Would organized crime cease to exist if the government legalized and taxed prostitution and certain drugs? Organized crime has a history of making money off illegal ventures. Legalizing, taxing, and regulating some of these ventures, such as prostitution, would decrease opportunities for organized crime, increase tax revenue for the government, and improve health issues due to the regulatory nature of government involvement

References

Abadinksky, H. (2003). Organized crime (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth Learning.

Blocker, J. S. (2006, February). Did prohibition really work? Alcohol prohibition as a public health innovation. American Journal of Public Health, 9(2), 233-243.

Prohibition. Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)