When prohibitionists put the public safety ahead of profit...

On this day in 1929 Prohibition One died in warehouse in Chicago. The Saint Valentine's Day massacre of course didn't literally end prohibition in the few minutes it took to conduct the legendary mob hit of Al Capone on Bugsy Moran, but it did turn public opinion against Capone and bootleg booze in general.

The people saw their good intentions had created crime, the bloody competition of the black market and watched the unregulated product wreak mayhem on the public health. They recognized in that moment that they could not stop alcohol consumption and so took action to end the failed war on booze in order to reestablish regulatory control over the industry.

Unlike today however, many of those who had profited from promoting temperance were the first to admit their error and in the interests of the common good led the way to sane policy. We could use a little more of that kind of selflessness among our current batch of drug war warriors but don't hold your breath waiting. The profit in drug prohibition is almost as great for the prohibitionists as it is for the dealers.