Drunkenness is considered evil in most of the world's main religions and Islam has banned it for centuries. The drums had been banging for many years in America about the evils of alcohol. Prohibition came about on the 16th January 1920 and lasted fourteen years, only to be abolished in the end after a very mixed reception and continuous problems. After the civil war women's temperance groups had been trying to preach the anti-alcohol message. They believed that the consumption of alcohol posed a serious threat to their most vital institutions, especially that of the family. The rapid...
had created a huge fertile ground for organised crime-the saloons had been replaced by speakeasies, protection rackets and prostitution-run by the few, accompanied by violence, extortion and corruption. This filtered its way through all levels of government and worse still the law enforces employed to police the problem were themselves riddled with corruption and in the pay of gangsters like Al Capone. Consequently prohibition, the great social and economic vision could not be enforced and therefore could not work. The long-standing tradition of the American way i.e. an individuals' freedom was too valuable to allow prohibition to continue.