Through his extensive research, the author of Pharmako Poeia presents us with a fascinating

historical aspect of the impact alcohol consumption has made on human society. In the Vitis
Vinifera section of Inebriantia, the author of Pharmako Poeia has pointed out that in one of the
first drug laws in history, Hammurabi has made it a capital crime for priestesses to open taverns
or to go to them with the intention of drinking. It was likewise a capital crime to operate a
drinking establishment where treason is plotted, without reporting it.
The first part of Hammurabis alcohol law demonstrates the possibility that the use of
alcohol by religious figure undermines the social order of religious societies. In a religious
society, the priests are usually considered to be the moral models for other citizens; when those
moral models display acts of drunkenness, it would erode religious figures positive image and
potentially lead to an increase in alcohol abuse among youths. The second part of Hammurabis
alcohol law implies that drinking establishments have a high tendency of harboring various plots.
Since alcohol usually can bring about the true complexion of character, men who have
consumed alcohol are more likely to talk of rebellion than their sober peers. In other words,
Hammurabis alcohol law teaches us that drunkards contribute a lot to the level of unrest within a
society.
Since alcohol threatens to undermine the stability and established hegemony of societies,
leaders of both ancient and modern worlds have taken numerous measures to curtail the usage of
the potent-yet-popular sedative-hypnotic drug. However, the vast majority of those measures end
in failure. Back in the early ages of civilization, both the Aztecs and Babylonians have made
futile attempts to forbidden alcohol use in certain groups. During George Washingtons
presidency, an armed rebellion broke out on the frontier because Alexander Hamilton had
placed a tax on whiskey. In 1933, the repeal of National Prohibition Act marks the failure of
arguably the boldest attempt to cut alcohol usage.
While evidently undermining the stability of human societies, the usage of alcohol has
hardly reduced over time. This is not only because alcohol has a highly addictive nature, but also
because, unlike the usage of cigarettes, alcohol usage does not reduce as a result of higher levels
of education. Therefore, in order to successfully curtail alcohol usage, policymakers need to
learn from failures of anti-alcohol measures in the past and become more innovative in their
methodology.