PROHIBITION IN PUERTO-RICO, 1917-1933

With the passage of the Jones Act (1917), the United States expanded P uerto Rican autonomy, made Puerto Ricans citizens of the USA, and gave the island prohibition of alcohol. The Puerto Rican people overwhelmi ngly ratified prohibition in a referendum in July 1987. Prohibition wo n because it was emotionally linked to patriotism and moraltiy. Prohib ition enforcement was almost impossible, compounded by the colonial st atus of the island. It was that status which brought an immediate end to prohibition in Puerto Rico with the demise of prohibition in the Un ited States in 1933.