In the early twentieth century, much of the impetus for the prohibition movement in the Nordic countries and North America came from Protestant wariness of alcohol.

The first half of the 20th century saw periods of prohibition of alcoholic beverages in several countries:

After several years, prohibition became a failure in North America and elsewhere, as bootlegging (rum-running) became widespread and organized crime took control of the distribution of alcohol. Distilleries and breweries in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean flourished as their products were either consumed by visiting Americans or illegally imported to the U.S. Chicago became notorious as a haven for prohibition dodgers during the time known as the Roaring Twenties. Prohibition generally came to an end in the late 1920s or early 1930s in most of North America and Europe, although a few locations continued prohibition for many more years.

Zapatista Communities will often ban alcohol as part of a collective decision. This has been used by many villages as a way to decrease domestic violence and has generally been favored by women. However, this is not recognized by federal Mexican law as the Zapatista movement is separatist and strongly opposed by the national government.

The Nordic countries, with the exception of Denmark, have had a temperance tradition since the early 1900s. Prohibition was enforced in Iceland from 1915 to 1922 (with beer prohibited until 1989). In Norway, distilled beverages were prohibited from 1916 to 1927, and prohibition also included fortified wine and beer from 1917 to 1923. In Finland, alcoholic beverages were prohibited between 1919 and 1932. Sweden enforced a rationing system (Bratt System or "motboken") between 1914 and 1955, but a referendum in 1922 rejected total prohibition. Alcohol was prohibited in the Faroe Islands until 1992. Nordic countries today, with the exception of Denmark, strictly control the sale of alcohol. There are government monopolies in place for selling liquors, wine and stronger beers to consumers, in Norway (Vinmonopolet), Sweden (Systembolaget), Iceland (Vínbúðin) and Finland (Alko). Corporations such as bars and restaurants may import alcoholic beverages directly or through other companies. The temperance movement in Scandinavia (parts of which are affiliated with the International Organisation of Good Templars), which advocates strict government regulations concerning the consumption of alcohol, has seen a decline in membership numbers and activity during the past years, but has seen a recent increase (for example IOGT-NTO in Sweden had a net gain of 12,500 members in 2005).

While the sale or consumption of commercial alcohol was never prohibited, throughout the first half of the twentieth century, homebrewing was circumscribed by taxation and prohibition, largely due to lobbying by large breweries that wished to stamp out the practice.[citation needed] One of the earliest, modern attempts to regulate private production that affected this era was the Inland Revenue Act of 1880 in the United Kingdom, which required homebrewers to obtain a licence at a price of 5 shillings.

The Bournville Village Trust, an area of land which covers parts of the Birmingham suburbs of Bournville, Selly Oak and Northfield has been 'dry' for over 100 years, with no alcohol being sold in pubs, bars or shops. This is due to the historical Quaker presence in the area which was founded by the Cadbury brothers when they opened their chocolate factory in Bournville in 1879. Residents have fought to maintain the alcohol free zone, in winning a court battle in March 2007 with Britain's biggest supermarket chain Tesco, to prevent it selling alcohol in its local outlet.

In the Russian Empire, a limited version of a Dry Law was introduced in 1914. It continued through the turmoil of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War into the period of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union until 1925.

Alcohol is prohibited in some Muslim countries because of Quranic cautions against the drink:

The Islamic prohibition on consumption of alcoholic drinks is thus the earliest and longest- lasting, reinforced by being embedded in religious teaching; still, both historically and at present, its enforcement varies considerably in different Muslim states and societies (for example, at the heyday of Medieval Muslim al-Andalus, drinking songs were a recognised and valued literary genre).