Think of the Maine Law of 1851 as a prototype for the 18th Amendment. This is it, the first successful prohibition law in the United States: gaze upon it and tremble. The law prohibited the manufacture or sale of liquor, and allowed search and seizure of a building if there was credible evidence that booze was inside.

Its author, Portland mayor Neil Dow, was catapulted to national recognition and he became the first presidential candidate of the Prohibition Party in 1880 (source). The language of the Maine Law is remarkably similar to the 18th, but this shouldn't surprise you. It's basically legalese, and there is one specific way to write it.

The Maine Law had one other big thing in common with the 18th Amendment: it didn't work all that well. Enforcement was lax, "rum riots" erupted, and bootleggers thrived. In fact, many places that served alcohol illegally did it according to what was called the "Bangor Plan." It worked like this: twice a year, the owners of restaurants and hotels would go to court and pay a fine. The rest of the year, they'd be left alone (source). Just the cost of doing business, right?

The law was so unsuccessful that President Theodore Roosevelt, lobbied by temperance activists, pointed to Maine as a warning about what might happen if national prohibition became law:

The state of Maine has been trying prohibition for 60 years. That is long enough to try anything. What has been accomplished in the state? The American people down in Alabama, Tennessee and other states are waiting to hear the facts. (Source)

Facts or not, other states jumped on Maine's bandwagon and passed prohibition laws of their own.