Saturday, December 5, 2009
The 18th Amendment
1 comments"Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress."
Ratified in 1919, the eighteenth amendment instated alcoholic prohibition in the United States in the early twentieth century.
Section 1: This section states that exactly one year after the ratification of this amendment, the "manufacture, sale, or transportation" of "intoxicating liquors," including imports, and exports from and to the United States and all territories under its jurisdiction for "beverage purposes" is illegal. The amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919, and thus, on January 16, 1920, it was officially illegal to possess, manufacture, or sell alcoholic beverages in the United States. As I'm sure the authorities would never go for this, technically, if you were selling alcoholic beverages for a purpose other than that for beverage purposes, then one could sell it. Medicinally, I'm sure it was legal, but I doubt the authorities would accept alternative excuses to selling alcohol other than for beverage purposes.
Section 2: Section 2 gives Congress and the States the concurrent power to enforce this amendment by appropriate legislation.
Section 3: This section creates and automatic nullification of this amendment should it not be ratified within seven years of the date of submission to the states.
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The Appeal of Repeal Day
Lift a stein to a celebratory, and historic, event.
By ALYSIA GRAY PAINTER
Updated 4:15 PM PST, Fri, Dec 4, 2009
Getty Images
Probably not too many of us were sitting in taverns, clutching plain seltzers, back in 1933, waiting to hear if the 18th Amendment -- that would be Prohibition, for short -- had been repealed.
But taverns circa 2009 celebrate December 5th, the end-of-Prohibition day, with specials and old-fashioned sips and, sometimes, flapper-esque dress-up get-downs.
Repeal Day is marked in Los Angeles at a series of bars, restaurants, and niteries. The Edison, that flicker-bulb-laden, back-in-time spot, always does a little whooping-up; this time the power-plant-y bar is taking it on the road, to Pershing Square, for ice skating and some imbibing of a special bourbon Christmas blend. Everything starts at Pershing Square at 6PM on Saturday, December 5th.
CommeÇa is shaking up, in honor of the day, Mary Pickfords (mmm, grenadine), Barbary Coasts and other festive libations. And there's a deal. First drink is $11, but the second is 76 cents, in honor of Repeal Day's 76th anniversary (but you have to whisper "Roosevelt" to snag the second, cheap-cheap sip). The deal's on December 4th through 6th.
And it isn't exactly about Repeal Day, but we wanted to mention that vintage-sweet Cole's, a bar that was certainly around in 1933, is celebrating its 101st birthday on Sunday, December 6th. There will be DJing, a book drive, more.
I chose this article because it was one of the few that actually mention the 18th amendment.
I chose this video because it explores the 18th amendment, and incorporates footage from the Roaring Twenties.
December 07, 2009 4:11 AM
To compare this with marijuana today, the ban that we have on marijuana is absolutely stupid, and we're pretty much repeating what we did with the 18th amendment and prohibition. I don't smoke marijuana (I find any type of drug to be pretty dumb to take), but legalizing it has so many more pros for us than cons.