Having the ability to enforce it helps, but here's the deal; I concede maybe with alcohol it was different but the increase in drug use directly parallels the decline of the rustbelt. You can look at the prosperous era before free trade hollowed out that region of the US, and you see very few people using opioids. It is an opioid epidemic, mainly. You can look at other drugs and see if the pattern doesn't hold up, but the lower middle class middle aged white worker in the rustbelt is addicted to opioids.
View attachment 1700987View attachment 1700993Look at this chart, this chart shows that alcohol consumption was already going down by the roaring twenties, and then prohibition happened and we have no data for consumption during that period. But look at where consumption is after it's repealed. it's at a record low, meaning that overall consumption went down during that period