Today's Bad Constitutional Amendment of the Day is Amendment XVIII: Prohibition of Alcohol.

Believe it or not, there are some Bad Constitutional Amendments. Amendment Eighteen was passed largely due to special interest movements that started in the mid to late 19th Century. More than a dozen states had prohibition laws before the start of the Civil War, hoping to curtail public drunkenness, gambling, and prostitution. After the war, the movement, largely waged by women's groups, organized into the "Anti-Saloon League". The ASL, whose goal was national prohibition, polled politicians on their views, and was able to sweep the election of 1915. A few years later, Prohibition was quickly passed and ratified.

Eighteen is good proof that bans by the 'pleasure police' simply do not work. Whether or not you are banning alcohol, guns, drugs, or gambling, people are going to find a way around it. In the Roaring Twenties, organized crime profited heavily from prohibition. Bathtub gin and bootlegging were big money makers, while speakeasy saloons popped up all over the place. Countless people died, both from the lawless methods of production and distribution, and from the lack of liquor production standards. (Moonshine, if not manufactured properly can cause blindness or death.) Enforcement of the liquor ban was both expensive and ineffective, and it didn't help that the government could no longer collect tax revenue on the illegal products.

Lessons learned from prohibition are lost on today's special interest groups, who still hope to control your behavior. Movements are currently underway to ban or limit your access to cigarettes, guns, gambling, SUVs, and even fast food. Gun grabbers think that a gun ban will stop violent crime, while anti-smokers think that prohibitive sin taxes will stop smoking. In the 00's, numerous localities have attacked personal behavior from smoking to drinking gourmet coffee*. Eighteen should stand as a stern reminder of what can happen when special interest groups and pleasure police conspire to take away your rights, and control your behavior.

*Please note that while I am neither a smoker, nor a coffee drinker, I stand up for an individual's right to kick back and enjoy the pleasures of life as a personal reward for a hard day's work.