HISTORIAN LOOKS AT FAILURE OF PROHIBITION

Sobering Dilemma: A History of Prohibition in British Columbia by Douglas
L. Hamilton; Ronsdale; 190 pages; $21.95

Strictly speaking, Sobering Dilemma is about the distant past -- the two
periods of alcohol prohibition that this province has endured.

The entire population suffered under a strict ban of liquor from 1917
through 1921, and the native population endured a race-based prohibition
for much longer, from 1854 through 1962.

In both cases, prohibition failed. It tried to present a simple solution to
a complex problem, yet had many unintended consequences. There was still
heavy demand for alcohol, which drove suppliers underground and made
criminals of otherwise law-abiding citizens. Substitutes, such as home
brews, were of poor quality and often dangerous.

So lives and livelihoods were put at risk, simply because some people
wanted to control the personal lives of others.

The general prohibition period was brief, but it set the stage for the way
liquor was sold for decades to come. Government liquor stores and the old
"ladies and escorts" entrances to beer parlours both had their roots in the
province's emergence from prohibition.

It's hard to read Douglas L. Hamilton's book without thinking of our
attitudes toward the drug trade today -- but if anyone misses the point,
Hamilton drives it home in his conclusion.

We have come to accept that alcohol if part of modern society, and have
allowed its use, with logical limits. Yet we refuse to allow the use of
recreational drugs, which drives the business and the users underground.

Prohibition of alcohol didn't work. Anyone who thinks that the prohibition
of drugs is the only answer should consider the lessons of history.