during prohibition, was it illegal to be drunk?

Question

sounds like a silly question. but the 18th amendment said what was illegal was "..the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors." And the volstead act said: “no person shall manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor except as authorized by this act.” Depending on how you view the use of the word "possess", it's not made clear whether or not you can drink the alcohol. obviously you can look at it whichever way suits your interest. but I wonder how the majority of law enforcment viewed it at the time. If they considered having it in your stomach to be "possessing" alcohol, or if once it was in you you were safe, as long as you weren't cavorting around with a bottle in your hand. it seems possession could easily have to do with possesion in reguards to distribution.
any historians or law men out there know how this was usually handled at the time by law enforcement and lawyers?

Answer 1

The 18th Amendment did not make it illegal to be drunk. In fact it was even legal to possess alcohol as long as it was manufactured before Prohibition was passed. If, for instance, you had a supply of wine or whiskey in your basement that you made or purchased before the 18th Amendment came into effect, if was perfectly legal for you to keep and drink it. You weren't allowed to sell it to anybody, though. I seriously doubt that merely being drunk constituted possession of alcohol back in those days, but the cops really wouldn't have had any way of determining if the alcohol you consumed was illegally obtained anyway unless you were carrying it on your person. There were public drunkenness laws, however those were only local ordinances.

Answer 2

It's like that comment by one of OJ Simpson's jurors that "it's not illegal to bleed in your own house". You confuse "actus reus" -- i.e. the substance of the crime -- with EVIDENCE of the crime. For example, it certainly isn't illegal to bleed anywhere (including your own house), but if your blood is found at the scene of a homicide, it is EVIDENCE of your involvement. It is not illegal to say "I could just kill that bastard John Doe", but if John Doe turns up dead, your words can certainly be introduced as EVIDENCE that you are the culprit.

So no, it was not illegal to be drunk. However, given the fact that it is virtually impossible to be drunk without having consumed alcohol (unless you are afflicted with an extremely rare intestinal parasite that converts sugars into alcohol inside your body), and it is *completely* impossible to drink alcohol without possessing it -- one's intoxicated state could be used as EVIDENCE of a violation of the Volstead Act.

Answer 3

In some strategies, helpful. Beer became unlawful for a quantity of time in Ruth's profession, to boot the ordinary undeniable fact that it doesnt extremely advance a participant's universal overall performance. Steroids wasnt unlawful until finally after 2001. some human beings have stated that steroids help build muscle and ought to help advance a participant's homerun totals, besides the undeniable fact that the sport enthusiasts that have examined useful after MLB's steroid insurance went into effect hasnt larger their homerun totals in any understand. they have been decrease than no circumstances considered ability hitters and that they didnt hit many homeruns until finally now the useful exams.

Answer 4

I'm no law expert but I can give you an example. Marijuana is illegal in the U.S. and I've seen people get arrested for being intoxicated. Charged them with "public/illegal intoxication" or something of the sort.

Answer 5

Yes. Laws against 'public intoxication`
were still on the books.
Lots of old laws remain, mostly unenforced
but still there.
In one Pennsylvania venue it is still illegal
to beat your wife it the stick used is thicker
than your thumb. .... Nice town!

Answer 6

Yes it is illegal. Most of the time it will be stated during sentencing. At least in OHIO it is.