My mom told me not to run with scissors in my hand. But you have to consider a lot more factors in protecting your kids these days.

While researching women's groups during Prohibition, I found out a few more interesting facts about what happened during the era. Like today's stores that sell growing equipment, back then there was a proliferation of "malt and hop" stores for baking and beverage purposes. Malt and hops are used in beer making, something you can do at home.

Medical marijuana supporters might find it interesting that, during Prohibition, whiskey could be obtained by prescription from medical doctors. The bottle had clear instructions that the contents were for medicinal use only. Doctors were known to be pretty free with their prescription writing, and folks picked up their medicine at drug stores. 

After Prohibition was repealed, a number of prominent citizens and even politicians admitted to using alcohol while it was illegal. It was even revealed that President Warren Harding, although he had voted for Prohibition as a senator, had kept the White House well stocked with bootleg liquor. If marijuana were made legal today, I wonder how many prominent citizens would come out of the closet.

Another thing I realized was that during my father's formative years, it was actually legal to smoke marijuana and illegal to drink alcohol. My dad was born in 1915. Prohibition started in 1920 and lasted until 1933. Marijuana was not definitively illegal nationwide until the Marihuana Tax Act passed in 1937. Dad used to talk about his father burying whiskey in the back yard but I never really thought about why he would do that until now. Also, my father once made a big deal about being able to drink alcohol openly in front of police. I guess that is impressive when you can remember a day when you couldn't do that.

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