Medical Beer

Jeff Evan's A Beer a Day entry for the day talks about a time of Medical Beer:

But there was another branch of American society that was also hindering the country from staying dry – declared temperance campaigners – and that was the nation’s medical fraternity.

A loophole in the 18th Amendment to the US constitution, which introduced Prohibition to America in 1920, allowed doctors to prescribe alcohol as they would any other medication.

In a country where strong spirits were traditionally considered effective methods of seeing off colds and other ailments, this should not be surprising. Even today, the benefits of alcohol – when taken in moderation – are recognised by physicians, as ways of easing stress or reducing heart disease, for instance.

The anti-alcohol brigade didn’t see things the same way. Their hard-won victory for enforced abstinence looked set to be eradicated by doctors liberally handing out prescriptions for booze.

According to a feature in The Smithsonian magazine, it was even suggested that drug stores should be able to supply beer over the counter, alongside the soft drinks they sold to kids. The erstwhile triumphant temperance lobby hit the roof, forcing the Government to back track and reconsider the doctors’ exemption.

Consequently, on 23 November 1921, prescriptions of wine and liquor were made subject to new limitations and it became illegal for doctors to prescribe beer.

Other news I got today is that cherimoya.com now has cherimoya available in season again. For 34.95 including shipping you get five pounds, usually six, of cherimoya. And if available they use fresh lemons as part of the packing material. I find that a half of a large cherimoya serves one nicely, so though they're about 6 bucks each, it's only 3 per serving, and what a tasty serving at that. I very highly recommend them (I've already placed my order). They also have small cherimoya available for free samples if you're pensive.

I realized today that Clint Eastwood will be working with Morgan Freeman for at least the third time. I can think of Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby previously, and now we have Invictus, with Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as captain of South Africa's rugby team.