REEFER MADNESS New Mexico

ClovesEveningNews1935-12-25p1 “Extra For Xmas Fare of 24 Prisoners Here” It’s no joke to be in jail on Christmas, but at least the 19 occupants of the county jail and five residents of the city jail will have a few concessions today in the way of Christmas dinner. In contrast with the ordinarily plain jail fare, chicken dressing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and other trimmings will be served at the county jail, according to Sheriff R.L. Thomas. Fire Chief George Maddox, who feeds the city prisoners, said the menu had not been made out but that they would be given ‘something extra.' ” Fifteen of the 19 county prisoners are facing marijuana charges and five of them are women.   Of the other four two are alleged grain thieves one is accused of raising a check and the other is serving a jail term for obstructing the law. Three drunks, two drunken drivers and one man held for investigation are in the city jail.

15 = have been incarcerated for Marihuana
3 = are there for public drunkenness (we presume alcohol)
2 = are grain thieves
2 = unknown crime
1 = is in for bad check writing

* We obtain a total of 23 not 24?

RoswellDailyRecord1929-03-28p5 “OLDEST WOMAN IS DRESSED IN AT NEW MEXICO PEN” Santa Fe. March 28—(AP) – Mrs. Refugia Avila, alias Cuca* Avila, who is the oldest woman and perhaps the oldest convict in the state penitentiary, was dressed in here yesterday to serve from a year to a year and a half for selling marihuana in Bernalillo county.   She was brought to the penitentiary yesterday by Sheriff Phillip Hubbell. Her age is variously estimated at between seventy-five and ninety years, and she is not absolutely certain of the right figure herself.   She was arrested recently at San Jose and was charged with selling the weed to school boys. Sheriff Hubbell said enough of the dope to start a revolution was found when the officers raided the Avila home at San Jose.   There was a 25-pound flour sack full, several bags and a ten-pound lard pail full.   The weed was grown on a farm near Home, the sheriff said. * Spanish slang for kookoo Women

“Many prosecuting attorneys in the South and Southwest have been confronted with the defense that, at the time of the commission of the Criminal act, the defendant was irresponsible, because of being under the influence of Marihuana to such a degree he was unable to appreciate the difference between right and wrong, and was therefore legally insane.   A great deal of difficulty has been experienced in rebutting this defense with the testimony of psychiatrists, for, while some of these experts are conversant with the nature and effect of this drug, it has been the experience of the author that many of them are without any information on the subject.“   --- Marihuana as a Developer of Criminals - American Journal of Police Science (V2) 1931 p252

“Many stories have been founded on bad information, which is certainly no news to anyone.   However, in addition to the usual unintentional misinformation which can befall any reporter, there have been many cases where an accused or his legal advisor has purposely conveyed the impression that the culprit was under the influence of dope when the crime occurred. In one absolutely unjustifiable killing of an aged grocer and the wounding of his wife and a customer in the store during the hold-up, no mention of marihuana use or influence was made until the defendants retained counsel to defend them against the State's demand for a death penalty.   Newspapermen, leaping to the bait, immediately began to write positive stories blaming the crime on marihuana, and within a few days it became an accepted fact that the root of the crime had been marihuana.   Worse yet, there was even a demand from one civic group that the defendants be treated as sick people rather than criminals---that they be hospitalized rather than tried for murder.   The true fact, as admitted later, was that defense counsel saw no way to avert a conviction, and hence was trying to save his clients from the death penalty by injecting the alibi that the crime had been committed while they were under the influence of marihuana and hence were not responsible for their acts.   Ultimately, the alibi collapsed for want of proof and the defendants were sentenced to death.”   ---The Traffic In Narcotics By H.J. Anslinger (1953)

AlbuquerqueMorningJournal1925-10-09p1 “MIXED DRINKS CAUSED MAN TO COMMIT CRIMES ” Frank Ortiz, Held to District Court for Stabbing Mother and Sister, cannot Recall Motive of Deed “Frank Ortiz, a young man who resides at Rarelas, was held to the district court by Justice Roddy Thursday under $1,000 bond on a charge of assaulting his mother and sister.   Ortiz pleaded guilty.   He will be arraigned Friday before Judge Milton J. Helmick in district court for sentence. Ortiz declared he could not remember the deed of which he was accused for some time after his arrest and that even now he cannot account for it. Manuel Acuna, a deputy sheriff, said that Ortiz had been drinking a mixture of whisky and marijuana and that he had been rendered almost a maniac.   Normally, he stated.   Ortiz is peaceable. Ortiz is said to have stabbed his mother, an aged woman, and his sister, Pavlita, with a pocket knife and later to have knocked down Augustin Sanchez, a baker, and slashed him with the knife.   Persons whom he met on the street he is alleged to have attacked, one of them being a young girl.   None of the victims was seriously injured. The case was prosecuted by the district attorney, A.A. Sedillo.   An effort is being made to learn where Ortiz secured the marijuana-whisky mixture, which is said to be one of the most dangerous drinks known.

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