Prohibition
Two men pouring alcohol into a sewer during Prohibition in the United States.
prohibition
alcohol interdict
prohibition, legal prevention of the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages with the aim of obtaining partial or total abstinence through legal means. Some attempts at prohibition were made in Aztec society, ancient China, feudal Japan, the Polynesian islands, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Canada, and India, but only a few countries—most notably, certain Muslim countries—have maintained national prohibition. Most countries that have experimented with the ban have soon lifted it. Finland, for instance,...