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Actually, Prohibition did a lot of good for our nation. The years following the Civil War and the depression of the 1870's (which had been called the "Great Depression" until the 1930's) saw an unprecedented spike in alcohol abuse on a national level. The problem permeated all social classes and ethnic groups. Liberals and Libertarians like to tell people that Prohibition was forced on the public by an out-of-touch right wing fundamentalist minority. In fact, Prohibition was welcomed by public: it was added to the Constitution (which required consents from 36 state legislatures at the time). The media likes to make much of speakeasies, moonshiners and gangsters, but for the most part our nation sobered up and dried out.

Did Prohibition create crime? Certainly not. Laws do not generate crime; criminals generate crime. When Prohibition ended, the criminals didn't go away; they moved on to other markets such as bribery, drugs and gambling. If we legalize drugs, the criminals will move onto other markets such as human trafficking and sex slaves.

Hum so many erroneous statement that it will be impossible to cover them all!

okay let's start : "saw an unprecedented spike in alcohol abuse on a national level"

actually, alcohol use dropped around 1923-24 and spiked back in 1930...all stats on the net confirms!

"but for the most part our nation sobered up and dried out. "

actually, it's the total opposit!!! where did you take your figures??? the consumption of hard spirits spiked up and death related to alcohol too...

"criminals generate crime"

and where these criminals come from??? you statement makes no sens!

"If we legalize drugs, the criminals will move onto other markets such as human trafficking and sex slaves."

and that's why the great country of freedom that Holland is, "legalized" it...

Did Prohibition create crime? Certainly not.
In a sense, no, Prohibition didn't create crime. Crime was already in existence so there was nothing to be created.
Prohibition DID make certain actions a crime, therefore in essence, Prohibition did indeed create crime in the form of more crimes being comitted by the breaking of the law.
Laws do not generate crime; criminals generate crime.
And laws are established to punish crimes comitted by criminals. Yet with enough votes many laws are repealed or modified. What once was legal is no longer legal and what was once not legal is.
When Prohibition ended, the criminals didn't go away; they moved on to other markets such as bribery, drugs and gambling.
And prostitution too!
Big SURPRISE! "The criminals" were there before Prohibition doing those very things.
If we legalize drugs, the criminals will move onto other markets such as human trafficking and sex slaves.
There is nothing to move on to! The criminals are already doing human trafficking and sex slaves. Drugs are simply a side business for some criminals.
And, as if it needs to be expressed, laws against human trafficking and sex slaves should exist and the punishment should be severe.

Your impression of the results of Amendment XVIII, Prohibition, are fantasy.

During prohibition, it was legal for an individual to make their own alcohol products for "personal use." Anybody that had a doctor for a friend had a prescription for alcohol. Anybody that wanted a drink could get one.

My grandfather ran a speak across the street from the Boston Herald Traveler on Avery Street in Boston that was famous because all the reporters wrote stories about it and he was never busted. I wonder why?

As far as the media making much of bootleggers and criminals, that's hogwash. Bootlegging was a massive industry, employing tens if not hundreds of thousands and as I wrote in my original post, "The only thing prohibition has ever done is to create black markets operated by criminals and encourage the corruption of public officials."

That's EXACTLY what the 18th Amendment accomplished. Anyone that wanted a drink could get a drink.

Another unintended consequence (maybe?) was that distilleries, wineries and breweries were mostly small operations run locally. At the end of Prohibition, the gangsters who had accumulated massive, tax-free wealth created huge alcohol producing companies, cornering the market for alcohol products. There are many that contend that was the original intent of the amendment.

Also, if it weren't for prohibition we wouldn't have Ted Kennedy.

"Did Prohibition create crime? Certainly not. Laws do not generate crime; criminals generate crime. When Prohibition ended, the criminals didn't go away; they moved on to other markets such as bribery, drugs and gambling. If we legalize drugs, the criminals will move onto other markets such as human trafficking and sex slaves."

Prohibition did create crime, and it created very rich and very well organized criminals. That was an unintended consequence, but it was a consequence of Prohibition nonetheless. The demand for alcohol still remained when Prohibition was enacted. An illegal industry sprung up overnight to rake in the millions of dollars to be made. Since there were no laws regulating the industry and no legal avenues for those in the industry to resolve disputes, the biggest baddest gangsters reigned supreme over the industry. Business disputes were often resolved with violent means rather than in courts. All the money to be made encouraged hundreds of thousands if not eventually millions to become involved in the trade in one way or another, whether they were producing alcohol, smuggling it, transporting it, selling it, or taking bribes to look the way when it came to these activities.

Did all those involved in the illegal alcohol industry just move on to other criminal enterprises after Prohibition was repealed? I don't think so. I've seen estimates on this and apparently only a relatively small percentage of those involved in the illegal industry continued in their life of crime. I don't really know how people come up figures for this sort of thing but it makes sense to me that most people involved in the black market for alcohol did not just move on to other criminal enterprises. Think about the people who were involved. There really were probably hundreds of thousands if not millions involved in the industry in some capacity or another before Prohibition was finally repealed. Most of us probably had a grandfather or great uncle or some other relative who did something like operate a still or transport booze during Prohibition. I know one of my grandfathers and his brother had a still and when they weren't selling their own liquor they were running it for someone else. Neither of them went on to other criminal enterprises after Prohibition was repealed. One went to work in the ship yards and the other built homes. We had a lot of regular Joes working in the black market for alcohol. Some got rich. Most probably just eked out a living or just made a few extra bucks. Some were hardcore criminals without consciences who had no moral qualms about doing things like stealing, pimping out women, extortion, whatever. Most people involved weren't like that though. I don't think things are that much different in the marijuana business today.