Federal prohibition was one of the most ambitious policy interventions in US history. However, the removal of restrictions on alcohol after 1933 was not uniform. Using a new balanced panel on annual deaths, we find that city-level repeal is associated with a 11.6% decrease in the rate of death by non-automobile accidents, a category which critically include accidental poisonings. We relate this finding to a large literature which emphasizes – but never precisely quantifies – the mortality effects of adulterated alcohol during federal prohibition. Thus, repeal likely led to a large annual reduction in accidental poisonings. However, combined with previous results showing even larger increases in infant mortality, repeal nonetheless likely had negative contemporaneous effects on public health.

联邦禁令是美国历史上最雄心勃勃的政策干预之一。然而，1933 年之后取消对酒精的限制并不统一。使用新的年度死亡平衡面板，我们发现城市层面的废除与非机动车事故死亡率降低 11.6% 有关，这一类别主要包括意外中毒。我们将这一发现与大量文献联系起来，这些文献强调——但从未精确量化——联邦禁令期间掺假酒精对死亡率的影响。因此，废除可能导致意外中毒的年度大幅减少。然而，结合之前的结果显示婴儿死亡率有更大的增加，废除仍然可能对公共卫生产生负面的同期影响。