From: [S C C 3] at [news.delphi.com] ([S C C 3] at [DELPHI.COM])
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs
Subject: Substance prohibition and homicide
Date: 18 Mar 1995 20:07:44 -0500

 
I thought that some of you might find this of interest.
As evidence against the wisdom of substance prohibition,
it is only circumstantial.  Used on it's own in support 
of legalization, logicians would say it bears the mark of 
a "post hoc ergo propter hoc" argument.  Nonetheless, you 
may find it thought-provoking.  I invite you to draw your 
own conclusions using all the available facts at your 
command; treating this as just one more piece of the puzzle.
 
The following are Homicide rates for the years prior to,
during, and following Prohibition of alcohol in the United 
States (according to "Murder Statistics from Statistical
Abstract of the United States", U.S. Dept. of Commerce).
 
 The ten years      Prohibition         Prohibition
 preceeding         begins 1920         ends 1933
 Prohibition
 
 1910 - 4.6         1920 - 6.8          1933 - 9.7      
 1911 - 5.5         1921 - 8.1          1934 - 9.5    
 1912 - 5.4         1922 - 8.0          1935 - 8.3
 1913 - 6.1         1923 - 7.8          1936 - 8.0
 1914 - 6.2         1924 - 8.1          1937 - 7.6
 1915 - 5.9         1925 - 8.3          1938 - 6.8
 1916 - 6.3         1926 - 8.4          1939 - 6.4
 1917 - 6.9         1927 - 8.4          1940 - 6.3
 1918 - 6.5         1928 - 8.6          1941 - 6.0
 1919 - 7.2         1929 - 8.4          1942 - 5.9
                    1930 - 8.8          1943 - 5.1
                    1931 - 9.2          1944 - 5.0
                    1932 - 9.0
                
Note that at it's height, the homicide rate under Prohibition
was not disimilar to modern homicide and non-negligent
manslaughter rates (as recorded in the FBI Uniform Crime
Reports).  These have hovered around the 9.2 +/- 1.0 per 
100,000 mark for the past twenty years.