Free Republic

It’s the Article V opponent’s favorite scare tactic: “This has never happened before…we can’t possibly know what the delegates will do! They could rewrite the entire Constitution.” [Cue ominous music.] In fact, the states have met in convention dozens of times, and none of these meetings exceeded its mandate, including the Constitutional Convention of 1787. These folks are misinformed…or they hope you are. Columnist Dick Evans marked the 90th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition on December 5 with a guest column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, “When volunteer lawyers saved us from Prohibition.” Evans pulls back the curtain to...

@historyinmemes Winston Churchill's doctors note that allowed him unlimited alcohol during the prohibition in the United States, 1932.

Temperance was supposed to be America’s saviour. For too long, prohibitionists warned, ‘demon’ rum had destroyed bodies, minds, and families. To end this plague of miseries, alcohol had to go. So it did in January 1920, thanks to ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution and passage of the Volstead Act, which criminalised the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic spirits. In that moment, America became a dry nation. Except, of course, that it didn’t. Rather than put an end to the manufacture and sale of alcohol, Prohibition merely drove it underground and into the waiting arms of organised...

Americans may be urged to drink no more than one or two beers weekly as part of stricter new alcohol guidelines. President Biden's alcohol czar, George Koob, the director for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA), told Dailymail.com that the USDA could change its Alcohol laws to match Canada, where people are advised to drink that drink per week. He said: "If there are health benefits, I think people will start evaluating where we're at (In the US)." Currently, the US recommends that women have up to one bottle of beer, a small glass of wine, or...

Minnesota is reportedly set to pay out “reparations” to communities that have been disproportionately affected by marijuana laws. The “reparations,” as some are calling it, will be paid out as per a “CanRenew” grant program stuck into a new marijuana law that made the drug illegal to use, possess, and grow in the state starting as of August 1st. “Starting in fiscal year 2026, the program will award $15 million a year to eligible organizations in communities that have high concentrations of people who were convicted for a marijuana offense or had family members who were convicted,” the Star Tribune...

As we all know, Australia hasn't been a bastion of freedom of late. Gun confiscation, Covid lockdowns, and entrenched leftist politicians like Dan Andrews seem to be pushing the Land Down Under in the direction of the Soviet Union.I've noticed lately on Sky News Australia the coverage of skyrocketing crime in the the city of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. It seems that there is a particular crime problem among the indigenous population, similar to the Native American population on reservations here in the US.The news coverage of this issue, however, seems to be putting the blame for the...

Prohibition started on this day, January 16, in 1920. It was a disaster. Well intentioned people attacked personal freedom and created the conditions for criminals to restore it. To day is also the birthday of the only guy ever to achieve the rank of Admiral Of The U.S. Navy, George Dewey. (This rank was superseded by the rank of fleet admiral in 1944.) Do Freepers see the similarities between Dewey's thoughts on education and the thoughts of my friend John Murphy in the Australian freedom movement now?

NATIONAL REPEAL DAY On December 5th, National Repeal Day commemorates the day Prohibition ended in the United States. #NationalRepealDay Prohibition grew out a practice of moderation rooted in the Protestant churches in America. By the 1830s, consumption of alcohol, especially hard spirits, was affecting the nation. Most participants were male. Those who supported who joined the Temperance movement saw alcohol as the root of all evil. The movement took hold at a time when women had few rights, and the country was debating slavery. Ethics and mores were changing. The Temperance movement shifted the view on alcohol use from moderation...

They suggest that global alcohol consumption recommendations should be based on age and location, with the strictest guidelines for men aged 15-39, who are at the greatest risk of harmful alcohol consumption worldwide. “Our message is simple: young people should not drink, but older people may benefit from drinking small amounts,” said the senior author, Dr Emmanuela Gakidou, professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine. “While it may not be realistic to think young adults will abstain from drinking, we do think it’s important to communicate the latest evidence so that everyone can make...

I do not write this article to throw stones. I write it to save lives. That’s why I make this heartfelt (and anguished) plea: If you are a pastor or ministry leader and you believe that, according to the Bible, you have the liberty to drink alcohol (without drunkenness), please don’t turn that liberty into a public boast, as in, “Look at how free I am!” You can enjoy that freedom before God, with moderation and discipline. But please don’t bash those who practice total abstinence. And please don’t use your liberty as a club against legalism. Or as a...

A large study of more than 36,000 high-quality MRI brain scans has found that drinking four units of alcohol a day – two beers, or two glasses of wine – causes structural damage and brain volume loss equivalent to 10 years of aging. The science on alcohol consumption can be confusing and overwhelming. A quick scroll through our coverage over the years will tell you it directly causes cancer, but also reduces inflammation and helps to flush toxins out of the brain. It stunts growth in developing brains by nearly 50 percent, it permanently damages your DNA and is confidently...

When Prohibition finally went into effect on January 16, 1920, those who owned American vineyards for the sole purpose of turning those grapes into wine faced a dilemma: tear up the vines and plant something else, or try and find a way to still make a profit from the grapes with the hope that ban on booze didn’t last very long. This conundrum was especially felt among the vintners of the Napa Valley, who by 1920 were already making a good portion of America’s wine. Here was the problem: if these winemakers tore up their vines in search of other...

People currently aged 14 and under will never be able to legally purchase tobacco. New Zealand has announced it will outlaw smoking for the next generation, so that those who are aged 14 and under today will never be legally able to buy tobacco. New legislation means the legal smoking age will increase every year, to create a smoke-free generation of New Zealanders, associate health minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said on Thursday. “This is a historic day for the health of our people,” she said. ...

Most people today regard America’s experiment with alcohol prohibition as a national embarrassment, rightly repealed in 1933. So it will be with the closures and lockdowns of 2020, someday. In 1920, however, to be for the repeal of the prohibition that was passed took courage. You were arguing against prevailing opinion backed by celebratory scientists and exalted social thinkers. What you were saying flew in the face of “expert consensus.” There is an obvious analogy to Lockdowns 2020. My first inkling of this prohibition history came in reading transcripts of the then-famous Radio Priest James Gillis from the 1920s. He...

(CNN) -- When a New York couple was told their over 100-year-old home was built by a notorious bootlegger, they passed it off as small town legend. But during a recent home renovation, the couple discovered something that revealed the legend could be true. In early October, Nick Drummond and Patrick Bakker said they found more than 66 bottles of whiskey from the Prohibition-era hidden within the walls and floorboards of their home, which was built in 1915. "Our walls are filled with bundles of booze!" Drummond, who documented the unexpected find in a series of posts on social media,...

Drugs are winning the war on drugs. [...] But there was one absolutely certain loser last night: the war on drugs. If Americans across the country provided a clear mandate for anything this year, it's ending the hold that drug prohibition has on our country. Of nine drug decriminalization or legalization measures on state ballots last night—including two addressing hallucinogens and one covering all illegal drugs—not a single one failed. These were decisive victories, too, not close calls. And unlike some previous waves of pro-marijuana votes, which were concentrated in predictable areas, successful anti–drug war measures in 2020 spanned a...

President Donald Trump hosted a campaign rally in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the same night the Democratic National Convention was scheduled to kick off in Milwaukee. While Democrats instead opted for a virtual conference to avoid spreading the coronavirus, Trump drew a crowd of at least 1,000 people. In off-the-cuff remarks, Trump suggested to Republicans that if they wanted to win elections, they had to keep cannabis legalization off the ballot. Though the Trump Administration has attacked cannabis reform in behind-closed-doors proceedings and by blocking legislative action, this is the first time the President has made negative comments about cannabis in public....

I believe Douglas MacArthur got it right when he described the nature of freedom in the place of his birth The Wild West of America: “……. nowhere else has there been the savage turbulence, the striking vitality and the raucous glamour of the struggle for law and order in the American West.” Only a few decades later the nation swung the opposite way with the bold experiment of Prohibition. Why did that policy fail? What was good about it? For all my life abstaining from alcohol has been my personal choice. But now, at the age of 63, an old...

At least 60 people have died from bad liquor in three states in the past three weeksThirty-four people died after drinking tainted alcohol in Puebla and Morelos on Mother’s Day, local authorities report. In Chiconcuautla, Puebla, the mayor’s office declared a health emergency and the National Guard was deployed to help identify others who may be showing symptoms of poisoning. The 20 who have died thus far in the community drank refino, an agave distillate similar to mescal which costs 15 pesos a liter or 5 pesos a glass and may have been tainted with excessive levels of methanol. Typically...

Clad in fedoras, smoking cigars, and wielding Tommy guns, prohibition enforcement agents raided a speakeasy salon today, busting a dangerous gang of haircutting criminals. The community thanked the brave agents for keeping them safe from the underground haircutting crime ring. The business has been operating in secret, with hair stylists opening a little eye slot and asking for the password before letting ladies in to get their hair cut. Authorities believe they have smuggled hundreds of desperate women in for cuts, colors, and even deadly shampoos.