That's nearly a seventy eight percent increase. Serious crimes, such as homicides, assault, and battery, increased nearly thirteen percent, while other crimes involving victims increased nine percent. Many supporters of prohibition argued that the crime rate decreased. This is true if one is examining only minor crimes, such as swearing, mischief, and vagrancy, which did in fact decrease due to prohibition. But the major crimes, however, such as homicides, and burglaries, increased twenty four percent between 1920 and 1921. In addition, the number of federal convicts over the course of the prohibition period increased five hundred sixty one percent. The crime rate increased because prohibition destroyed legal jobs, created black-market violence, diverted resources from enforcement of other laws, and increased prices people had to pay for prohibited goods. Not only did Americans continue to manufacture, barter, and possess alcohol; they drank more of it. The Americans that supported the law of prohibition argued that if drinking were not allowed, then Americans would drink less. Although the consumption of alcohol fell immediately after the beginning of prohibition, there was a subsequent increase after less than a year. After the start of prohibition, because manufacturing and importing alcohol were illegal, people needed to find ways to avoid being caught. Because beer had to be transported in large quantities, which became difficult, the price of beer went up and thus Americans began to drink less of it. Instead, they began to drink more hard liquor, which was more concentrated and easier to transport and thus less expensive. Because of prohibition, Americans began to drink more potent drinks and so became drunk by drinking less. Another downfall of prohibition was that the illegally made products had no standards. Deaths from poisoned liquor rose from 1,064 in 1920 to 4,154 in 1925.
