Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; when used by itself the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The word is also used to refer to a period of time during which such bans are enforced.
Some kind of limitation on the trade in alcohol can be seen in the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1772 BCE) specifically banning the selling of beer for money. It could only be bartered for barley: "If a beer seller do not receive barley as the price for beer, but if she receive money or make the beer a measure smaller than the barley measure received, they shall throw her into the water." A Greek city-state of Eleutherna passed a law against drunkenness in the 6th century BCE, although exceptions were made for religious rituals.
In the early 20th century, much of the impetus for the prohibition movement in the Nordic countries and North America came from moralistic convictions of pietistic Protestants. Prohibition movements in the West coincided with the advent of women's suffrage, with newly empowered women as part of the political process strongly supporting policies that curbed alcohol consumption.
The first half of the 20th century saw periods of prohibition of alcoholic beverages in several countries:
1918 to 1920: Prohibition in Canada nationally, as well as in most provinces including:
1901 to 1948 in Prince Edward Island
1907 to 1992 in the Faroe Islands; limited private imports from Denmark were allowed from 1928
1914 to 1925: Prohibition in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union
1915 to 1935: Prohibition in Iceland (wine legal from 1922, but beer still prohibited until 1989)
1916 to 1927 in Norway (fortified wine and beer were also prohibited from 1917 to 1923)
1919 in the Hungarian Soviet Republic, March 21 to August 1; called szesztilalom
1919 to 1932 in Finland (called kieltolaki, 'ban law')
1920 to 1933: Prohibition in the United States
After several years, prohibition failed in North America and elsewhere. Rum-running or bootlegging became widespread, and organized crime took control of the distribution of alcohol. Distilleries and breweries in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean flourished as their products were either consumed by visiting Americans or illegally exported to the United States. Detroit and Chicago became notorious as havens for prohibition dodgers during the time known as the Roaring Twenties – 75% of all alcohol smuggled into the United States crossed the Detroit–Windsor border. Prohibition generally came to an end in the late 1920s or early 1930s in most of North America and Europe, although a few locations continued prohibition for many more years.
In some countries where the dominant religion forbids the use of alcohol, the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited or restricted today. For example, in Saudi Arabia and Libya alcohol is banned; in Pakistan and Iran it is illegal with exceptions.
Generally, prohibition is not completely effective, and tends to drive the market underground instead. Most countries which have maintained long-standing alcohol bans have predominantly Muslim populations whose religious beliefs forbid them from drinking, but the broad popularity of alcohol has meant prohibition is extremely difficult to enforce in most nations. The vast majority of countries which have at one point fully prohibited alcohol have since reversed it. Both the United States and Soviet Union implemented total bans on alcohol only to repeal them after less than 15 years.
In the British colony of Nigeria, missionary forces demanded prohibition of liquor, which proved highly unpopular. Both Africans and British found illegal supplies such as secret stills, obtaining colonial liquor permits, and smuggling. The experiment began in 1890 and was repealed in 1939.
During the coronavirus outbreak of 2020, alcohol sales, and even the transportation of alcohol outside of one's home, was made illegal. This order came into effect during the nationwide lockdown on 27 March 2020. The purpose of the ban was intended to prevent drunken fights, reduce domestic violence, stop drunk driving, and eliminate the weekend binge drinking so prevalent across South Africa.