When you say that Prohibition “didn’t work”, is the claim that because it was repealed it is definitionally a failed policy? I think that is a reasonable perspective, and what your link hints at, but you could also imagine an argument that Prohibition was a good policy, actually, and that it was bad to repeal it.
I have heard the latter argument made specifically in the context of domestic violence; essentially the claim is that Prohibition so reduced alcohol consumption that the resulting drop in domestic violence outweighed all the gangster violence.
Ah! I should be clearer—in the context of this post, I was claiming that it did not create a lasting social taboo. In the linked chart, you can see that alcohol consumption remained stable before and after prohibition.
When you say that Prohibition “didn’t work”, is the claim that because it was repealed it is definitionally a failed policy? I think that is a reasonable perspective, and what your link hints at, but you could also imagine an argument that Prohibition was a good policy, actually, and that it was bad to repeal it.
I have heard the latter argument made specifically in the context of domestic violence; essentially the claim is that Prohibition so reduced alcohol consumption that the resulting drop in domestic violence outweighed all the gangster violence.
Ah! I should be clearer—in the context of this post, I was claiming that it did not create a lasting social taboo. In the linked chart, you can see that alcohol consumption remained stable before and after prohibition.