This is the Kato Daily Podcast for Friday, December 5, 2008. I'm Caleb Brown.

75 years ago today, a dark chapter of American history came to an end when Utah ratified

the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ending the experiment known as Alcohol

Prohibition.

Subject of a forum today at the Cato Institute,

free to booze.

Brandon Arnell, the Cato Institute's Director of Government Affairs, provides a history lesson.

So 75 years later, why should we mark the day that prohibition ended beyond a decent

excuse to drink.

Well, I think it's important to look back at this failed experiment,

as there are a lot of misconceptions about prohibition,

and there's certainly many lessons to be learned.

Some of the misconceptions, I think are based in a Hollywood style

romanticization of this period. You think of the speak-eases and jazz clubs and such.

Of course that really glosses over the skyrocketing crime the corruption the lack of respect for the law during

that period.

Simply put, prohibition turned many Americans into criminals.

You see that in the

alcohol consumption rate which fell only slightly,

fell dramatically in the early years,

but eventually after just a few years

it was about 60 or 70 percent of pre- Prohibition consumption.

...