Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution established Prohibition of alcoholic beverages?

The Eighteenth Amendment established Prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States.

Congress proposed the amendment in December 1917, and the states ratified it on January 16, 1919. It prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors within the United States and its territories. The amendment took effect on January 17, 1920, after a one-year implementation period.

The Volstead Act supplied the legal definitions and enforcement rules used to carry out Prohibition. It allowed certain alcohol-related activities, including religious and medicinal uses, but broadly targeted commercial production and distribution. Enforcement proved difficult, and illegal alcohol markets expanded in many parts of the country.

The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment in 1933. It is the only constitutional amendment to have been repealed by another amendment. The episode illustrates that constitutional amendments can be reversed through the same formal amendment process used to adopt them.