The futility of prohibition

Drinking was/is popular, it was also part of the fabric of every-day life: a drink after work, meeting up with friends, during a meal with your spouse. So prohibiting it was always going to be very difficult.

Now let’s think geography. America has 95,000 miles or more than 150,000 kilometres of coastline. It also has a 4,000 mile or almost 6,500 kilometres border with Canada and, at the other end of the country, its border with Mexico stretches 2,000 miles or 3,000 kilometres. That gives a lot of scope for smugglers.

Add to this the fact that alcohol can be easily (if not safely) made out of almost anything: grains, fruits or vegetables. You have to give mankind credit, we’ll find a way. But the point here is that it can be made almost anywhere. Its quality might not be very good, it might even be dangerous, but desperate times require desperate measures; and if we go back to where we began: people like a drink.

So, my question is: Was prohibition a good idea? Was it ever feasible?