Lift a glass to toast Prohibition Repeal Day!

It was 86 years ago today (Dec 5, 1933) that the Nation's 13-year grand failure of trying to regulate public morality was repealed by the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution.

3.2% ABV beer was actually legalized on April 7th of that year, when FDR signed the Beer-Wine Revenue Act, paving the way for the decriminalization of rum and eggnog just in time for Christmas.

Here's a brief refresher course: Prohibition in the United States

Was that the end of it? Not at all. We got a small taste just seven years ago with the great Four Loco panic of 2010. And the fun never ends, with New York State officials still on the (your) case with their recent “Health Improvement Plan.” Not the mention the ongoing, decades-old War on Drugs, another government prohibition policy that gets more expensive, deadly and futile every year it continues. (BTW, for my latest polk-in-the-eye at the Drug War, check out my last novel, Aqua Vitae).

So what's a determined tippler to do? Well, if you can read and drink at the same time, may I humbly suggest investing in a copy of my book, The Last Bartender. The book postulates the imposition of a second federal alcohol prohibition (don't laugh ... now that you're responsible for your neighbor's healthcare costs, don't you have a financial interest in his overall health as well?). As you might expect, this state of affairs isn't greeted with the same level as enthusiasm by everyone, and the story follows a cadre of those still-thirsty malcontents as they make their way through the new legal and cultural landscape. I promise it'll keep you both entertained and ticked-off.

I've written more on the subject here: And so it begins..., and here: Prohibition, Redux. And please stop by and read the first couple of chapters of the book here: Last Bartender Excerpts.

Update: Looks like the Neo-Prohibitionists have found another target: Drunken Gummi bears no laughing matter. Vodka-soaked candies are the latest method kids are using to get drunk. We'll have to add this to last year's other apocalyptic alcohol scourge that we all barely survived, the alcohol-infused whipped cream crisis. Your government, hard at work...

Update: Wait, there's more! I forgot all about the vodka soaked tampons. That article also covers the subject of "butt chugging," which I'll leave you to research on your own. 
Update: Here's how the news was covered back in the day...  Prohibition finally comes to an end in 1933 (Originally published by the Daily News on December 6, 1933.)

Drink up