In March 1933, soon after taking office, Roosevelt signed a law legalizing the sale of wine and 3.2% beer. Congress also proposed a 21st Amendment that would repeal the 18th Amendment. Prohibition formally ended that December, when Utah provided the final vote needed to ratify the new amendment.
One of the pitiest summaries of Prohibition came earlier -- a scathing assessment from journalist H.L. Mencken in 1925.
Five years of Prohibition (at the time) "completely disposed of all the favorite arguments of the Prohibitionists," he wrote, "There is not less crime, but more. There is not less insanity, but more. The cost of government is not smaller, but vastly greater. Respect for the law has not increased, but diminshed."
Prohibition's centennial comes as the United States is incrementally ending the criminalization of marijuana. Recreational use of pot is now legal in 11 states. More than 30 allow its use for medical purposes.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal laws, but Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the pro-legalization Drug Policy Alliance, believes most Americans now view the anti-marijuana crusades of America's "War on drugs" as misguided in ways that evoke Prohibition.
Even some of the older generation are saying, "We went too far. That was a mistake," he said.
--CootPro
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