Prohibition

Prohibition in United States history was a nationwide constitutional ban on the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages that remained in place from 1920 to 1933. It was promoted by the "dry" crusaders, a movement led by rural Protestants and social Progressives in the Democratic and Republican parties, and was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Prohibition was mandated under the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Enabling legislation, known as the Volstead Act, set down the rules for enforcing the ban and defined the types of alcoholic beverages that were prohibited. For example, religious uses of wine were allowed. Private ownership and consumption of alcohol were not made illegal under federal law; however, in many areas, local laws were stricter, with some states banning possession outright. Nationwide, Prohibition ended with the ratification of the 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment, on December 5, 1933.

Prohibition supporters, called drys, presented it as a victory for public morals and health. Anti-prohibitionists, known as wets, criticized the alcohol ban as an intrusion of mainly rural Protestant ideals on a central aspect of urban, immigrant, and Catholic life. Although popular opinion believes that Prohibition failed, it succeeded in cutting overall alcohol consumption in half during the 1920s, and consumption remained below pre-Prohibition levels until the 1940s, suggesting that Prohibition did socialize a significant proportion of the population in temperate habits, at least temporarily. Some researchers contend that its political failure is attributable more to a changing historical context than to characteristics of the law itself. Criticism remains that Prohibition led to unintended consequences such as the growth of urban crime organizations, typified by Al Capone. As an experiment it lost supporters every year, and lost tax revenue that governments needed when the Great Depression began in 1929.

Prohibition in Worldwar
Sam Yeager told Straha that Prohibition's failure set a precedent for the War on Ginger. He speculated that The Race might one day see they were fighting a losing battle, and legalize ginger in their territories. Straha replied that this was unlikely, as ginger was more dangerous to Race members than alcohol was to Tosevites.