Prohibition in Kentucky Caused Serious Problems

High Hopes

Prohibition in Kentucky began with high hopes. The state had been among the first three to ratify the 18th Amendment. That amendment established National Prohibition (1920-1933).

The temperance movement had long been strong in Kentucky. Residents expected that prohibiting alcohol would lead to improved health. To lower crime. And to decreased violence. That it would cause higher morality. Stronger families. More prosperity. And a better future for young people.

Problems

But many residents weren’t going to let their freedom to drink be denied. Prohibition failed to deliver its promised benefits. In fact, it made things much worse.

Terrain and rurality combined to make the state an ideal place to make moonshine. Bootleggers could easily make a lot of untaxed money quickly. They would bribe police, sheriffs and Probation Bureau officers. That was simply a cost of doing business.

Corruption

Widespread corruption lowered respect for Prohibition. It caused a decline in public morality. In turn, that caused a deep lack of respect for law. It became fashionable to flaunt the law. This was especially clear among young people.

Prohibition also led to a bad pattern drinking. It was infrequent but very heavy drinking. People didn’t go to a speakeasy to have a beer. They went to guzzle alcohol while they could.

Dangerous Bootleg

Bootleggers carelessly made their illegal products. So it often had lead toxins. They added creosote if they wanted to color it. So customers sometimes had paralysis, blindness or even death.

This led some drinkers to switch to hair tonic, sterno or drugs. Prohibition may have caused these actions.

Prohibition also denied the state tax revenues from alcohol. This was at the very time it was causing increases in crime. This led to steeply higher criminal justice costs. That burdened tax-payers.

Repeal

Widespread crime and other problems caused by Prohibition in Kentucky and elsewhere. These became very obvious. More and more residents decided that the hoped cure was much worse than the disease.

So over 80 percent of Kentucky voters called for Repeal to end National Prohibition.