Patrick:
Drinking has positively surged during the pandemic. According to Nielsen data, retail alcohol sales jumped by 55% nationally in March (when many stay-at-home orders were put in place), and then remained steadily high for weeks thereafter. Moreover, it’s possible the new “alcohol-to-go” sales conventions and laws permitting “carryout cocktails” will stay in place even after bars and restaurants reopen. A boozy future may very well be the new normal, and one of COVID-19’s lasting legacies.
But if it is, that’ll merely be the continuation of a trend that began even before Planet Earth welcomed the coronavirus. Because here’s a fun fact: in January of this year—well before COVID had overtaken humanity—the Associated Press reported that “Americans are drinking more now than when Prohibition was enacted.”
That’s right. Just before Congress banned the sale and manufacture of alcoholic beverages in 1919, Americans were drinking an average of just under 2 gallons of alcohol a year. That rate was enough to warrant passage of the 18th Amendment, which then went into effect on January 17, 1920 (100 year ago).
And yet that rate pales in comparison to today’s per capita average of 2.3 gallons per year, which breaks down to about 9 drinks per week. Think about that: we’re drinking more today than were our forebearers when Congress and the Country deemed it imperative to dick around with the Constitution.
But if the two of us (and our consumer base) sound completely out of control, consider the numbers at the dawn of our country’s founding: by 1830, the average American was drinking the equivalent of 7 gallons of alcohol per year. Distilling became so widespread that whiskey became cheaper to buy than beer, wine, coffee, tea, or milk!
Evidently, Prohibition was a remedy to a problem that had already been largely solved by the time it went into effect. Although the 19th Century’s drinking rates were pure lunacy, the numbers had decreased dramatically by the time the consumption of alcohol became a Constitutionally-prohibited crime.
The social ills the 18th Amendment introduced are well documented, and ultimately prompted Congress to adopt a resolution proposing a 21st Amendment that would repeal the 18th. And that’s what happened: the 21st Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933, ending Prohibition, and Americans returned to their love of the drink with a vengeance.
So all I can say is that I hope Americans are increasing their intake responsibly. We want the laws permitting more efficient means of selling to our customers to remain in effect, but that probably means we all need to stay on the south side of drinking 7 gallons per year….
—Jesse