The Eighteenth Amendment

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

The Eighteenth Amendment along with the Volstead Act, which defined "intoxicating liquors" excluding those used for religious purposes and sales throughout the U.S., established Prohibition in the United States. Its ratification was certified on January 16, 1919. It was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933, the only instance of an amendment's repeal. The Eighteenth Amendment was also unique in setting a time delay before it would take effect following ratification and in setting a time limit for its ratification by the states.

The Crusaders were a national organization opposed to Prohibition. Here, a member of the Crusaders proudly displays her thoughts on the subject in 1930. I find this image to be a little ironic because of the fact that the 18^th amendment excluded religious organizations because of the separation of church and state.

This video brings to light an interesting aspect about prohibition. That is the false prescription of alcoholic beverages- it makes me think about the possibility for doctors to provide patience with “medicinal weed” even if they aren’t in need of the substance …. Will we learn from history?