Amendment 21 - United States Constitution Interactive

What does it Say?

Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2. The transportation or importation into any state, territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several states, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the states by the Congress.

What does it Mean?

The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment (Prohibition). Section 2, however, prohibits importation of alcohol in violation of state or territorial law. Despite the federal ruling, many "dry" states continued to prohibit alcohol.