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Witness History: Prohibition in the USA

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Prohibition in the USA

05/12/2013 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Prohibition in the USA

For 14 years it was illegal to sell alcohol in the USA - prohibition only ended in 1933

From 1920 until 5 December 1933 it was illegal to sell alcohol in the USA.

On 5 December 1933 prohibition came to an end. For almost 14 years it had been illegal to sell alcohol in the USA. The law was widely flouted and organised crime had flourished under the policy. Listen to archive accounts from the time.

(Photo: Men pouring alcohol down the drain circa 1920. Copyright: Hulton Archives/Getty Images)

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