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Isn't the whole "prohibition was bad" pretty much a just-so story? Being the drinker I am, I don't want it to come back, of course. But does having a few seed

Isn't the whole "prohibition was bad" pretty much a just-so story? Being the drinker I am, I don't want it to come back, of course. But does having a few seedy speakeasies run by the mob really amount to much compared to this sort of thing: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1088683/death-rate-rate-during-prohibition/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1088683/death-rate-rate-... That's one disease. Booze causes all kinds of problems, and I wouldn't be surprised if (as another example) wife-beating sharply declined during prohibition. (ED: Looking again at that graph, there's something a little dubious about it--but it was the first data I could find.)

microtherion 4y ago
That graph is indeed quite dubious, considering how long it takes for liver cirrhosis to develop. Furthermore, it shows a steep drop preceding prohibition, so, if anything, it suggests that prohibition came about because society's attitudes toward alcohol had already changed.
TMWNN 4y ago
> Isn't the whole "prohibition was bad" pretty much a just-so story? My understanding is that drinking levels did not return to pre-Prohibition levels until the 1970s.