Negative Effects of the ‘Alcohol Prohibition Act’ on Gujarat

Gujarat has been under liquor prohibition law since 1960 i.e., since almost 60 years after the independence. This article studies the prohibition law and how it negatively affects Gujarat’s economy, polity, crime and control, judiciary and administration. The paper dwells into how alcohol ban is not suited for a modern world with international connections and shows what opportunities Gujarat foregoes due to the act. It focuses on how alcohol being the vice it already is, can be used as a tool to (1) manipulate the economy due to its large market size. (2) affect how and who wins elections (3) induce variations in crime and administrative proficiency as well as how it makes the judiciary take a lighter stance for the benefit of the society. Today alcohol as become a societal normal, and it is morally acceptable (even in India) to indulge in social drinking. Negative effects of prohibition on alcohol in Gujarat have been explained in their entirety. The paper shows the connection between law and other branches of studies in an effort to understand how Gujarat is not entirely correct in continuing the prohibition law.