uld never be ratified. However, within one year and eight days, thirty-six states - the three-quarters necessary - voted for the 18th Amendment outlawing the manufacture, sale, transportation, import and export of January 17th, 1920, at exactly midnight, was when Prohibition went into effect. One minute after the law passed, $100,000 worth of alcohol was stolen from a government facility. This was the beginning of a new and violent crime wave in America. Four other cases of alcohol-related robberies alone were reported that night. The increase in crime was just one of the many problems created by Prohibition that was stupidly overlooked by the proponents of the new law. There were many others. Gangs and the Mafia took over the streets resulting in bloody feuds. They made massive amounts of money importing alcohol to the public. These organized crime elements had a lot of police paid off to look the other way while they went about their business. Smuggling liquor became a quick way to make money. Often, the liquor was homemade and very impure. Moonshine and other homemade alcohol resulted in 4,154 deaths in 1925 alone. By the mid 1920¹s, around forty million dollars worth of liquor had been illegally imported into the United States and the undermanned police force was powerless to stop it. At this time, around ten percent of the population was involved in some way in the illicit liquor business. In fact, some of the wealthiest and most influential families in the U.S. today got the start of their fortunes during prohibition.
             Speakeasies were opened everywhere throughout the country. These were secret or hidden bars behind everyday business fronts. Passwords were often needed by patrons to get into the speakeasies. Although police made a lot of busts and arrests for alcohol, most of the general population was not affected by their actions. During the time span of prohibition, drunkenness arrests increased by 41%, thefts by 9%, and as...