#AlcoholZero It was a trend on Twitter due to the bill that seeks to prohibit the consumption of alcohol in people who drive vehicles. The Chamber of Deputies resumed the debate for its sanction, and would have an opinion at the end of this month. “We know of the concern of some businessmen since they believe that the initiative harms them. But do not give in to these pressures since it is not ‘a dry law'”, said a letter from relatives of victims of road accidents due to alcohol consumption. If enacted, this law it would only prohibit the consumption of alcohol in those who are going to drive vehicles, that is to say that it is not a total prohibition of alcohol consumption. But the comment is reminiscent of the law that was in force in the United States between January 17, 1920 and December 6, 1933 and that prohibited the manufacture, import, export, sale and transportation of alcohol.
The initiative began between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, when alcohol consumption in the United States grew dramatically. Many women began to protest because their husbands came home drunk, beat them and squandered the household money on alcohol. The complaints were collected by the Movement for Temperance, a social group that promoted restraint in the intake of alcohol and food. The conflict intensified after the religious leaders linked to the movement, who were gaining more and more popularity, clashed with the new waves of immigrants arriving in the United States who did not share their views on the restriction of alcohol consumption. After increasing pressure from the Movement, the Volstead Lawwhich implemented the prohibition dictated by the Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Prohibition worked to reduce consumption, but it had secondary effects that ended up withdrawing the support it had at first: the fact that the production and sale of alcohol were prohibited generated a black market that soon attracted so much organized crime. (gangsters like Al Capone) as well as a whole network of taverns and clandestine gambling dens (the so-called “speakeasy”, which translates as “speak softly”). This new network of crime spread throughout the country and involved the mafia as well as officials and even members of the police.
Finally, in 1933, the law had lost all support in public opinion. On March 21 of that year, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the repeal of the Volstead Act. thereby repealing the 18th Amendment, which is the only amendment to the United States Constitution that has been repealed in history.
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