This article will examine the history, social factors, and economic impact of alcohol prohibition in the United States. Ken Burns and Lynn Novick (2011) delve into the topic of alcohol in America in their documentary Prohibition, and this article will discuss events before, during, and after alcohol prohibition in the United States. This paper will also relate alcohol prohibition to current cocaine drug policies in the United States. In the early 1900s, alcohol and cocaine were both prohibited in the United States. Cocaine was used as an anesthesia and medication in the early days of America until it was abused and lawmakers at the time deemed cocaine a dangerous drug. Americans would lose interest in cocaine until the 1960s, only to become even more popular in the 1980s (Spillane, 1998). Today, cocaine is one of the most important substances in the war on drugs. Alcohol today is a staple in American culture. By 1800 Americans would have found any reason to drink on virtually any occasion, and after the invention of whiskey, rum, and hard liquor the dangers would become apparent (Burns & Novick, 2011). Some Americans would soon turn against alcohol and its effects on society's morals. Early temperance movements argued that men spent all their earnings on alcohol and that alcohol would destroy the moral fabric of many families through domestic abuse and poverty. Lyman Beecher would be one of the first people to speak out against alcohol and set the wheels in motion towards the temperance movement. American men developed several movements against the consumption, sale, and production of alcohol, such as the Sons of Temperance, the... middle of paper... dangers, and Prohibition was an excellent example of how a drug policy it can cause more trouble than it's worth. Cocaine in the United States is totally illegal, but some of the medicinal uses of the leaves are of some use to those South Americans who use coca leaves for beneficial reasons. America could benefit from the legal use of coca leaves, and this could alleviate the many cocaine-related problems in South America and the United States. History has shown us that if a substance is illegal or unattainable, it will become more desirable. ReferencesBurns, K. and Novick, L. (Editors). (2011). Ban [Television series]. United States: Public Broadcasting Service. Spillane, J. (1998). Has drug prohibition worked? Reflections on the end of the first experience with cocaine in the United States, 1910-45. Journal of Drug Problems, 28(2), 517-538.