'NOBLE EXPERIMENT' ULTIMATELY A FAILURE

The Point: Prohibition As A War On Alcohol Bears A Likeness To The War On
Drugs.

There are plenty of historic dates we commemorate in the United
States. One anniversary, however, passed with little note. Dec. 5 the
70th anniversary of the end of alcohol Prohibition, which came with
the ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933.

There aren't that many people around who remember the failed effort.
But in South Texas, the Valley Morning Star (the newspaper in
Harlingen), found a 97-year-old San Benito resident who summed up
Prohibition's success with six words: "It didn't stop people from drinking."

This "noble experiment," as its proponents called it, began with the
ratification of the 18th Amendment on Jan. 16, 1919. After the
Volstead Act passed, it was illegal to make, sale or transport
"intoxicating liquors" anywhere in the United States.

Not that this law stopped anyone who really wanted a
drink.

Some made their own beer or drank booze smuggled in from Mexico. Those
close to the U.S.-Mexico border easily could circumvent the law by
crossing the Rio Grande, where it was legal to serve alcohol.

All over the United States, citizens thumbed their noses at a law
attempting to regulate their personal behavior. The lofty goal of
saving helpless Americans from the demon rum ran headfirst into the
reality that it's impossible to protect people from themselves. People
who liked beer, wine or liquor refused to give up something that gave
them pleasure, even though other people considered it a vice. Sure,
some people were abusing alcohol, but the cure was worse than the disease.

"Although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition,
it subsequently increased," according to a 1991 analysis by the
libertarian Cato Institute. "Alcohol became more dangerous to consume;
crime increased and became 'organized'; the court and prison systems
were stretched to the breaking point; and corruption of public
officials was rampant."

Sound familiar?

The United States reversed its stance on banning alcohol after
citizens saw what a disaster Prohibition had become. Unfortunately,
our elected leaders haven't learned from history.

Just like alcohol prohibition led to the rise of organized crime in
the 1920s, today's ban on certain narcotics has done nothing more than
increase drug cartels' profits. When a substance is kept artificially
expensive, someone will move to fill that market.

Seven decades ago, the citizens of the United States realized they had
made a mistake - and they fixed it. Today, there are plenty of
Americans from all walks of life - including police officers, judges
and politicians - who realize that our current drug prohibition is
doing nothing but increase profits for the drug suppliers, soak up tax
money to pay for prisons and law enforcement and erode our civil
liberties as we endure traffic stops, personal searches and other
indignities.

However, many politicians are still too scared of being called "soft
on crime" to come to their senses and realize our national drug policy
needs to change.

Let's hope that historic date comes sometime soon.