What were the unintended consequences of Prohibition in America?

The answer

Prohibition (1920–1933) was intended to reduce crime, poverty, and social problems, but it achieved the opposite. Alcohol consumption initially dipped, then rebounded as speakeasies (illegal bars) mushroomed - New York City alone had an estimated 30,000 to 100,000 of them, far more than the legal saloons it replaced. The ban created a massive black market that funded the rise of organized crime empires like Al Capone's, which earned an estimated $60 million annually from bootlegging alone. The government also lost $11 billion in tax revenue.