Bureau of Prohibition Bureau of Prohibition The Bureau of Prohibition (or Prohibition Unit) was the federal law enforcement agency formed to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly known as the Volstead Act, which elaborated upon the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution regarding the prohibition of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. When it was first established in 1920, it was a unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. On April 1, 1927, it became an independent entity within the Department of the Treasury, changing its name from the Prohibition Unit to the Bureau of Prohibition. In 1930,
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution 24%, including increases in assault and battery, theft, and burglary. Anti-prohibition groups arose and worked to have the amendment repealed, once it became apparent that Prohibition was an unprecedented catastrophe. It is alleged that the Eighteenth Amendment failed because of its sudden, strict enforcement. It didn't allow the people to have a say or let them gradually ease into the complete ban of alcoholic beverages. Instead, the people rebelled and the introduction of speakeasies and "flappers" came about. The Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 5, 1933. Following ratification in 1919 the effects of the amendment were long