The 18th Amendment, ratified January 16, 1919, banned the production, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquors nationwide—though it didn't outlaw possession or consumption. The temperance movement, led by the Anti-Saloon League, had pushed for decades to end alcohol sales, arguing it would reduce poverty and crime. Congress passed the Volstead Act to enforce the ban, but Prohibition largely failed. Public sentiment turned against it by the late 1920s as bootlegging flourished, organized crime expanded, and the Great Depression made the government desperate for tax revenue. On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition, making the 18th the only constitutional amendment ever repealed.