Prohibition Essays (717 words) - Five Points Gang,

According to dictionary.com, the definition of prohibition is a ?policy of legally forbidding the manufacture, transportation, sale, or consumption of alcoholic beverages except for medicinal or scientific purposes?. When Congress came up with this amendment that is what they excepted. It was ratified on January 16, 1919 and repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933. In the over 200 years of the U.S. Constitution, the 18th Amendment remains the only Amendment to ever have been repealed. The 18th amendment required physicians to obtain a special permit from the prohibition commissioner in order to write prescriptions for liquor. The patient could then legally buy liquor from the pharmacy or the physician. However, the law also regulated how much liquor could be prescribed to each patient. The patient who was supposed to be using it for medical reasons was instead taking the alcohol home to produce drinking alcohol. In the 1920s, alcohol was known as an ancient therapy that still held medical value with some physicians. It was widely used through the 19th century, although its scientific value was beginning to be questioned by the turn of the 20th century. Part of its popularity was due to its low cost and availability. It was used as a tonic, stimulant, preventive measure, and even as a cure for acute illnesses. Whiskey and brandy were used most often, but use generally varied considerably from physician to physician. Alcohol was prescribed for a variety of ailments including anemia, high blood pressure, heart disease, typhoid, pneumonia, and tuberculosis. They were not fighting against prohibition, but against the government?s growing jurisdiction over their practice of medicine. This struggle over the Volstead Act marked the first time that the medical community had taken a stance against federal legislation. Previous laws concerning health and medicine had been largely supported by the nation?s medical community. The unsuccessful protest of physicians during prohibition began a new phase in government regulation of medical practice. Al Capone started off as a poor Italian kid who later moved to Brooklyn with his parents. Where Capone joined a gang headed by Johnny Torrio, where Capone committed many petty crimes. When Torrio headed to Chicago, Capone later followed him where his crimes would become more major. Capone supposedly killed Torrio's boss in New York so that Torrio could take over a leader. In 1925 Torrio retired, and Capone became crime czar of Chicago, running gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging rackets and expanding his territories by the gunning down of rivals and rival gangs ( Al Capone Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story). Al Capone became one of the biggest organized crime lords in Chicago. But because of one of his biggest blunders, the St. Valentines Massacre and the fact that the government was already gathering information about him through tax evasion through many different spies, Capone crime were soon to come to an end. On November 24, Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in Federa l prison, fined $50,000, charged $7692 for court costs, and $215,000 in back taxes for tax evasion. He was then sent to the new Alcatraz prison in August 1934. Al Capone suffered from a late case of syphilis called paresis, so he was released from Alcatraz and admitted into a Baltimore hospital. He later died in his Florida home in 1947. To enter these illegal establishments, password was required and the saloonkeeper wouldn?t open the door for unidentified people. Speakeasies were not only set up in bars but in people's homes. Many people set up these places because they wanted somewhere for their friends to hang out and let loose. Speakeasies were sometimes set up as mini clubs that had many bands playing in the back room for people to enjoy. The facts that have been stated clearly show that the 18th Amendment was an utmost failure. Between the manufacturing of alcohol in homes, crime bosses selling alcohol and people creating speakeasies, the 18th Amendment was basically taken as a joke. Most people wanted to break the law during this time because it was said to be cool during this time period. To be rebellious during this time was not an uncommon thing. This is why the 18th Amendment was repealed by the 21st Amendment. Congress