Prohibition: The History of A Calamity

The US Supreme Court changed its understanding of the commerce clause and other aspects of government regulation of commerce in the 40s–60s in rejection of the previous generation’s court whose every decision favored the rich and powerful and blocked corrective legislative action at every level (for instance in the famous Lochner v. New York case after which we now refer to that whole court “era”). The citizenry explicitly (and overwhelmingly) elected legislators and executives who promised to reign in the power of corporations, and they replaced the previous justices... that’s how democracy is designed to work.

Government regulation is a response to real serious abuses of the type almost everyone is horrified by when they hear the specific examples that prompted the regulation – false advertising, fraud, miserable working conditions and the general treatment of workers as replaceable objects (and preserving the same by viciously breaking up any attempts by workers to organize), the sale of deadly diseased food, dumping of toxins into drinking water supplies, the use of market power to block competitors from markets or disrupt their operation, discrimination based on race, gender, and religion, etc. etc.

To just sum up this history as “the Supreme Court allowed the abuse of the commerce clause to get so far out of hand” is deeply disingenuous.

The prison lobby, law enforcement unions, and the coalition of growers in Mendocino and surrounding parts provided millions to stop Prop. 19 from passing in CA. And, the liquor, prison, and law enforcement lobbies continue to contribute to politicians who keep Marijuana a schedule 1 drug (and FYI for those that don't know or aren't American, Meth and Cocaine are both schedule II drugs, because they carry "medical value").

This equates to about 50 bottles of whiskey.

Alcohol (like all drugs) has a very dark side (but it is just one side). To sweep it away so blithely is, IMO, exceedingly naive.

Unfortunately, the conversations on these topics are too often "Your view is myopic. And my view is the only view that matters." We need more of the former and less of the latter.

* Teenagers are amazingly stupid already. They are stupid and dangerous when driving under the influence of alcohol. A very dear friend of mine was killed by a drunk driver.

* Drunk girls are raped by drunk stupid men all the time. My cousin got pregnant at 14 because of this.

When you don't drink is when you can really see how big of a problem alcohol really is. Starting with social drinking, which means that some people are absolutely incapable of have social bonding or plain fun without any alcohol. Pathetic.