Volstead Act

US legislation passed in 1919 designed to enforce Prohibition under the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. Officially the National Prohibition Act, it was popularly named after its proponent, Minnesota congressman Andrew Volstead.

Passed by US Congress over the veto of the president, the Volstead Act established the government's right to investigate and punish violators of Prohibition. However, even with the enforcement provisions of the Volstead Act, the Eighteenth Amendment was largely ignored. The Volstead Act expired in the states in 1933 when the Twenty-First Amendment repealed Prohibition.