So… Did Prohibition Actually Work?

Increased productivity… lower violent crime… a more moral society. Sounds like a utopia, right? And the US government believed all they had to do was take away people’s access to alcohol to achieve it. Boy, were they wrong. Speakeasies, bootleg liquor and Al Capone all thrived under the new regime, with 30,000 backroom bars in New York City alone! But the longer-term impact must have been positive, surely? No. As soon as prohibition ended, Americans not only returned to their same drinking habits, but alcohol consumption actually surpassed what it had been before.