(2 THE ALCOHOL PROBLEM 
These figures cannot be taken to indicate that when 
certain States nominally adopted prohibition they 
strictly enforced it, whilst the other non-prohibition 
States increased their consumption in corresponding 
measure. The only reasonable explanation is to 
assume that after the introduction of prohibition the 
drinkers continued to indulge their habits with com- 
paratively little check, though they had to do so 
clandestinely, instead of in the saloons. Once a man 
has acquired a habit which gives him pleasure, he will 
not lightly give it up, whatever the law may say to the 
contrary. It may be accepted that the mere act of 
introducing prohibition in a State of itself indicates 
a considerable measure of public support, and it is 
highly probable that it would be found, were statistics 
available, that States which passed prohibition laws 
had, previous to their passage, a considerably smaller 
alcohol consumption than those which did not. But 
what is the immediate effect of the passage of a pro- 
hibition law in checking alcohol consumption ? "This 
question can to some extent be answered from our 
information relating to the effects of national pro- 
hibition. 
Tue Errects OF NATIONAL PROHIBITION ON ALCOHOL 
CONSUMPTION. 
Exact information concerning the effects of national 
prohibition upon alcohol consumption is naturally 
unobtainable. Except for the dwindling stocks of 
liquor possessed by private individuals before pro- 
hibition came into operation, and the minute quantities 
still permitted on doctors’ prescriptions, the alcohol 
consumed must come into the country by smuggling