The U.S. Supreme Court's oldest member alluded to the nation's experience with alcohol Prohibition in dissenting from the high court's recent ruling in the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" free-speech case.

The Washington Post reported June 27 that Justice John Paul Stevens, 87, drew on his own memories of Prohibition to argue against restricting the rights of high-school students to advocate for drug legalization. Stevens compared the current ban on marijuana use to Prohibition's ban on alcohol use.

"[T]he current dominant opinion supporting the war on drugs in general, and our anti-marijuana laws in particular, is reminiscent of the opinion that supported the nationwide ban on alcohol consumption when I was a student," said Stevens. "While alcoholic beverages are now regarded as ordinary articles of commerce, their use was then condemned with the same moral fervor that now supports the war on drugs."

Stevens was a teenager during Prohibition and grew up in the Chicago of Al Capone and speakeasies. His mother was a fervent supporter of Prohibition, but his father, a hotelier, had a more practical outlook, saying that repeal would help his business.

"[J]ust as Prohibition in the 1920's and early 1930's was secretly questioned by thousands of otherwise law-abiding patrons of bootleggers and speakeasies, today the actions of literally millions of otherwise law-abiding users of marijuana, and of the majority of voters in each of the several states that tolerate medicinal uses of the product, lead me to wonder whether the fear of disapproval by those in the majority is silencing opponents of the war on drugs," Stevens wrote in his dissent.