Legacy Of Prohibition
Although Prohibition officially ended in 1933, seventy-five years later, consumers are still affected by its continuing impact on their lives today. Some Prohibition legacies that still exist today include:
*Temperance Beliefs that Survive. Temperance activists incorrectly believed that beer was a beverage of moderation, which is a common misperception even today. There's no beverage of moderation, only the practice of moderation. A standard drink of regular beer, wine and liquor or distilled spirits contains the same amount of alcohol -- six-tenths of one ounce. They're all the same to a breathalyzer.
*Blue Laws. Blue Laws originated hundreds of years ago during the colonial period in observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest and [check] prohibiting work, traveling, sports and many other activities. Many of these Blue Laws are no longer in effect, though many jurisdictions still prohibit the sale of spirits on Sundays.
In today's modern economy, with dual-income households becoming the norm, Sunday is now the second busiest shopping day of the week. Archaic Blue Laws hinder consumer convenience and deprive states of additional sales tax revenue.
Since 2002, 16 states have authorized Sunday spirits sales, bringing the total to 38. Today, 12 states still ban the sales of distilled spirits on Sunday.
*Dry Counties. There are hundreds of dry (prohibition) counties across the U.S. that restrict alcohol sales partially or completely.
Dry counties restrict economic development - diverting profits, employment and tax revenues to neighboring "wet" counties.
*Neo-Prohibitionism. Because Prohibition was a discredited failure, the goal of neo-prohibitionists today is to establish cultural rather than legally-imposed prohibition by making beverage alcohol products less socially acceptable and marginalizing those who drink, no matter how moderately.