“It wasn’t the politicians - Prohibition was ended by an amendment passed by three-quarters of the states through ratifying conventions of citizen delegates.”
Don’t read into the article I gave you from Britannica. The amendment we are discussing was created by Congress and was ratified by the states with Utah giving the final vote. But then it went back to congress and was finalized and sent to Roosevelt. Congress could have pulled the plug any time they wanted. But they had committed to the dry states and pussed out by letting the states vote on it. They had a lot of money into the enforcement folks at the Treasury Department.
There have been a number of Amendments going through the states, the last one in 1992. But the process of wording the amendment is within congressional responsibility. Congress words it. And either the states like it or they don’t. And then they dicker. Sometimes that dickering can stop it in going forward and many times does.
The process:
The following steps must be completed for an amendment proposed by Congress to be added to the United States Constitution.
Step 1. Passage by Congress. Proposed amendment language must be approved by a two-thirds vote of both houses.
Step 2. Notification of the states. The national archivist sends notification and materials to the governor of each state.
Step 3. Ratification by three-fourths of the states. Ratification of the amendment language adopted by Congress is an up-or-down vote in each legislative chamber. A state legislature cannot change the language. If it does, its ratification is invalid. A governor’s signature on the ratification bill or resolution is not necessary.
Step 4. Tracking state actions. Proposed amendments must be ratified by three-fourths of the states in order to take effect. Congress may set a time limit for state action. The official count is kept by Office of the Federal Register at the National Archives. Legislatures must return specific materials to show proof of ratification.
Step 5. Announcement. When the requisite number of states ratify a proposed amendment, the archivist of the United States proclaims it as a new amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Actual certification is published immediately in the Federal Register and eventually in the United States Statutes-at-Large. So if you want to say the states ratified it. Go ahead. But they didn’t write it and they can’t change it. So, who’s bill is it? And if they don’t like it the bartering process can go on for many years. The 27th Amendment, which prevents members of Congress from granting themselves pay raises during a current session, was ratified in 1992....202 years after it was first submitted to the states. So they don’t always jibe.
States have rights. And you’ll notice it is still not legal to possess, grow, or distribute weed within federal laws. The house voted to do so on Dec 4, 2020, but it never got out of the senate. I think it will this year with a liberal senate. And they will have to determine the laws pertinent to its entry into society for the feds...and the penalties for the failure to follow them.
wy69
“Congress could have pulled the plug any time they wanted. But they had committed to the dry states and pussed out”
No more than the citizens at the conventions pussed out by voting for it.