Title: • Prohibition: US homicide and suicide rate 1900-1950 | Statista
Headings: Suicide and homicide rate changes during Prohibition (1920-1933) in the United States from 1900 to 1950
(rate per 100,000 people)

Changes in homicide and suicide rates during Prohibition in the US 1900-1950
Impact on homicide rate
Impact on suicide rate
Suicide and homicide rate changes during Prohibition (1920-1933) in the United States from 1900 to 1950 (rate per 100,000 people)
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Content: • Prohibition: US homicide and suicide rate 1900-1950 | Statista
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Changes in homicide and suicide rates during Prohibition in the US 1900-1950
Published by Aaron O'Neill , Jan 16, 2020
Once described by US President Herbert Hoover as "a great social and economic experiment", we now know that Prohibition was ultimately a failure, that led to increased crime and violence and gave way to a new era of mafia and mob influence in the United States. On January 17, 1920, the Volstead Act came into effect and the manufacturing, transportation, importation and sale of alcohol became federally prohibited across the United States, and while consumption was not a federal offence, it was sometimes prohibited on a state level. Opposition to Prohibition remained strong throughout the 1920s, and the Great Depression (starting in 1929) led many to advocate for the sale and taxation of alcoholic beverages in order to ease the US' economic woes. One of the reasons why Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932 was due to his promise of ending Prohibition, which he did with the Ratification of the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933. Impact on homicide rate
In the two decades before Prohibition, the recorded homicide rate in the United States was growing gradually, although often fluctuating in the 1910s. When Prohibition came into effect, the homicide rate continued on it's previous trajectory, but without fluctuating. While homicides related to alcohol consumption may have declined, some historians speculate that the total number could have continued to rise due to the increase in criminal activity associated with the illegal alcohol trade. The homicide rate in the US reached it's highest figure in the final year of Prohibition, with 9.7 homicides per 100,000 people in 1933, before falling to roughly half of this rate over the next ten years (this decrease in the early 1940s was also facilitated by the draft for the Second World War). Impact on suicide rate
Alcohol's contribution to suicide rates has been significant throughout history, however it is only through more recent studies that society is beginning to form a clearer picture of what the relationship between the two actually is.