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(During The Reefer Madness Era)
ANSLINGER'S GORE FILE PAGE
Utah really didn’t have much in the way of Gore File cases, but what it lacked in numbers it made up for by way of its rather interesting history. According to Charles Whitebread [1]
“[referencing Mexican’s] . . . we went and did a careful study of the actual immigration pattern and found, to our surprise, that Utah didn't have then, and doesn't have now, a really substantial Mexican-American population. So it had to be something else. . . . Utah unique in American history -- its association with the Mormon church. . . . In 1910, the Mormon Church . . . decreed polygamy to be a religious mistake and it was banned as a matter of the Mormon religion. Once that happened, there was a crackdown on people who wanted to live in what they called "the traditional way". So, just after 1910, a fairly large number of Mormons left the state of Utah, . . [for Mexico . . . But, by 1914] . . .most of the Mormons were not happy there, . . . they didn't feel comfortable there, they wanted to go back to Utah where their friends were and after 1914 did.Recalling that most of the original State Marihuana laws were created to keep those black (or brown depending upon geography) peoples in their place. Utah’s situation was indeed very unique.
And with them, the Indians had given them marijuana. . . . . You know that the Mormon Church has always been opposed to the use of euphoriants of any kind. So, somebody saw them with the marijuana, and in August of 1915 the Church, meeting again in synod in Salt Lake City decreed the use of marijuana contrary to the Mormon religion and then -- and this is how things were in Utah in those days -- in October of 1915, the state legislature met and enacted every religious prohibition as a criminal law and we had the first criminal law in this country's history against the use of marijuana. “
However, despite the laws origins, as can be seen from our newspaper index it is obvious that many of those arrested (at least in the 1920’s, 30’s) were primarily people with Mexican sir-names.
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NEWSPAPER HEADLINES DURING THE REEFER MADNESS ERA |
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HARRY ANSLINGERS GORE FILE CASES:
Name: Robert Davis /Martha Jones - Location: - Nephi, Ut. - Date: - Dec. 17, 1967
What the Narc’s were claimingNEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS:
UTAH - Nephi, Utah, Dec 16, 1967 ----A man under the influence of marihuana attempted to murder his common-law wife, by cutting out her heart with a piece of broken mirror. He stabbed her several times in the back and then cut his own abdomen with the makeshift weapon, causing his intestines to protrude. Authorities indicated the suspect continued to act in a "frenzied manner" even after he was handcuffed and in a critical condition from his self-infected wounds. - Congressional Record -- April 4, 1968
[S]- ProvoDailyHerald1967-12-18p2- “Double Stabbing In Nephi Hospitalizes Californians”
Double Stabbing in Nephi Hospitalizes Californians[S]- SaltLakeTribune1967-12-18p4b- “Double Stabbing Leaves 1 Poor, 1 Satisfactory”:
NEPHI, Utah (UPI)- Two Jarlsbad, Calif., motorists were hospitalized following a double stabbing here Sunday. Juab County sheriff Duane Sperry said Martha G. Jones 24 suffered two stab wounds in the back. Robert Davis, 27, was stabbed in the abdomen.
Trooper Rex Hall of the Utah Highway Patrol took the motorists to Nephi Saturday night after their small foreign car ran off U.S. 91 about 19 miles south of Levan.
Sheriff Sperry said they checked into a Nephi motel, where the stabbing reportedly occurred Sunday about 2 a.m.
The woman was reported in satisfactory condition at Juab county Hospital here. Davis /as transported to Utah Valley Hospital, Provo, where he was listed at press time today in poor to fair" condition following surgery.
NEPHI, Ulah (IPI) -- Two Carlsbad, Calif., motorist were hospitalized following a double stabbing here Sunday. Juab County Sheriff Durne Sperry said Martha G. Jones, 24, suffered two stab wounds in the back. Robert Davis, 27, was stabbed in the abdomen. Trooper Rex Hall of the Utah Highway Patrol took the motorist to Nephi Saturday night after their small foreign car . . . Off U.S. 91 about 19 miles . . . With of Levan. Both are from Carlsbad, Calif., the sheriff said. They were brought to Nephi . . Said. They checked into a Nephi motel, where the incident reportedly occurred Sunday about 2 a.m. . . . The woman was stabbed with pieces of a broken mirror, the Sheriff said. She is reported in satisfactory condition at the Juab County Hospital here. . . .more . . “[S]- SaltLakeTribune1967-12-19p13- “Sheriff Probes Juab Knifing”
[S]- SaltLakeTribune1967-12-20p3d- “Juab Checking Material in Knifing Probe”
[S]- SaltLakeTribune1967-12-23p30- “Chemists Report Material in Car Marijuana”
[Key-finder - Case #Case#UT01]
UTAH’s UNSOLVED/UNIDENTIFIED CASES:
Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to locate any specific information about the following incident:
Name: Park Robb - Location: Salt Lake City - Date: - Sept. 30, 1935
What the Narc’s were claimingAnd while we have (at this time) not been able to locate any written records of the arrest, no newspaper articles, no police/court records, etc. We were able to locate the mention of one Robert Park (www ancestry com) in the 1920 census (age 6 at the time) which correspond to the individual in question.
Salt Lake City On September 30, 1935, a marihuana smoking party was broken up by police. Park Robb, 22 and another young man and a girl were in the group. Two older men were also held --- ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN MARIHUANA - aka The Gore File
In addition we were able to locate the following newspaper article, which while not stating his exact name, due to the dates and incidents involved, we feel “might” be related.
The Salt Lake Tribune - [s]- Sept 29, 1935 - P14 - “Alleged Marijuana Deal Jails Couple”However, without a more thorough investigation, it is impossible to know if any of the above info is related.
Following an alleged transaction for marijuana. Saturday (Sept 28) evening, two men were being held in the city jail police said. Joe Fisnado, 35, was being held for investigation of an alleged sale of the narcotic to Gwenn Williams, 21. The men were arrested at Second South and Fourth West streets. Williams was booked for alleged possession of marijuana
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Who was Dr. Besley?
We don’t know, but every state seems to have developed an unusual character during the Reefer Madness era. Utah being no exception. According to the Harry Anslinger collection located at PennState University:
1933
Dr. Besley has been physician for the Utah State Prison for sixteen years. He said that several men are serving sentences at the prison for the sale of marihuana and many of the prisoners have used marihuana and smoke it whenever some of it is smuggled into the prison. The use of marihuana does not make liars of men as the use of morphine does, and it does not create in the human system any real physiological need for itself so that the physiological processes can be carried on as does morphine. Marihuana’s first effects are like those of cocaine-accelerated physical activity. This drug stifles the inhibition in a man so that he loses all sense of decency. At times it produces a complete stupor so that its victim lies like a dead man.
It is a decided nerve stimulant, that acts on the, whole nervous system and, consequently, arouses the sex passion, although not so much as some other drugs.
Personally I have been told by many persons in the underworld that marihuana is a sex stimulant. It is the common thing for Mexican pimps to smoke marihuana and to give it to prospective customers of their women. “Hog-wild” is the epithet used out here to describe the actions of a marihuana addict. - Box9, File7 - PennState Collection
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FOOTNOTES:
[1]- “The History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States” by Charles Whitebread, (A Speech to the California Judges Association 1995 annual conference) - Can be found on the internet
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NEWSPAPER HEADLINES DURING THE REEFER MADNESS ERA |
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