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ALABAMA
In Birmingham, Ala., a hot-tamale salesman had pushed his cart about town for five years, and for a large part of that time he had been peddling marijuana cigarettes to students of a downtown high school. His stock of the weed, he said, came from Texas and consisted, when he was captured, of enough marijuana to manufacture hundreds of cigarettes. -- American Magazine “Marijuana, assassin of youth” By H.J Anslinger - July 1937
----- [Museum Note: According to Reefer Madness folk lore (era 1930’s), Hot-Tamale salesman (who were also peddlers of Medical Marihuana to school children) were lurking around every school yard. Mothers beware.]
ARIZONA
1950 - Another example of the commission of a crime of violence while allegedly under the influence of marihuana is reported from Arizona, Gregory Sanchez Martinez was convicted at Phoenix, Ariz., of rape and assault with a deadly weapon and on April 19, 1950, was sentenced to a term of 20 to 25 years on the rape charge and 9 to 10 years on the assault charge, the sentences to run concurrently. The complaining witness, a young, 25-year-old mother, started that at the time of the attack Martinez held a sharp bladed knife at her throat and acted in the manner of a laughing maniac. At the time of Martinez arrest a half-smoked marihuana cigarette was found in his coat pocket. He admitted having smoked this cigarette, and a search of his automobile revealed 18 additional marihuana cigarettes. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1950)
CALIFORNIA
[PRE- Nov 1933] A big railroad official in San Francisco was astounded a short while ago when I told him he had eighty acres of Marihuana planted on his country estate in Telama county. A Mexican caretaker and confederates planted the “hempseed,” ostensible to supply food for wild ducks on the official’s hunting preserve. “The owner himself had no inkling of the true purpose, I am certain. It took fourteen men three days to uproot and burn the stuff, and cost the official $1,400 to get it out. “More chance gave us the tip. The Mexicans had boldly hoisted a white flag on the lodge, a signal that the Marihuana was ripe for harvest and sale to the weed addicts, and this caught the eye of one of my agents traveling along the river. -- San Francisco Examiner (Newspaper) Nov 14, 1933
----- [Museum Note: Account originated via William G. Walker: [Head of Calif. Narcotics Bureau] -- High probability of a fake gore file case that never happened]
September 1934 -- George Derrigan, 25, beat his wife at 834 Jones Street, San Francisco. Neighbors called the police. Inspectors Frank Ahem and Barney Reznik found Derrigan "hopped up" with marihuana. --1990- The PROTECTORS (Book) By John C. McWilliams
[Pre-Mar 1936] Sacramento, Calif.: A man was arrested, charged with cultivating narcotic habits in young boys to boost the demand for his marihuana cigarettes. His source of marihuana was found growing on railroad property near Galt, The plants were cleverly camouflaged by cornstalks. ----Arrest made between Jan, 1935 And Mar 31, 1936. -- Oakland Tribune (Newspaper) Oct. 11, 1936 “Don't be a MuggleHead”
[Pre-Mar 1936] Los Angeles, Calif.: A 74-year-old man was arrested for the possession of several thousand dollars worth of marihuana growing in a garden in Montebello Township. ----Arrest made between Jan. 1935 And Mar 31, 1936. -- Oakland Tribune (Newspaper) Oct. 11, 1936 Don't be a MuggleHead
June 7, 1935 California, San Quentin
The New York Times and other papers announce discovery of marihuana growing in San Quentin (Calif.) Prison yard. Some had been harvested and smoked by the convicts. -- The Literary Digest (Magazine) Oct 24, 1936
In San Quentin, Ca. and in Colorado State Reformatory, it was found growing within the prison walls, where it was harvested and smoked by some of the inmates. -- American Journal of the Medical Sciences - 1938 pg 351
On June 7, 1935 it was reported that Marihuana was found to be growing in the San Quentin prison yard. From some of this cigarettes had been made and smoked by some of the prisoners. As a result two prisoners were placed in the dungeon. -- Finger Print & Identification Magazine March 1938 pp3
San Quentin, Calif.: Prison authorities at San Quentin Prison learned of a drug addict who attempted to sell a tobacco sack filled with prepared marihuana for smoking to another prisoner. The addict was employed in the prison garden and when his work was inspected several flourishing marihuana plants were found growing on the prison grounds. -- Oakland Tribune (Newspaper) Oct. 11, 1936 Don't be a MuggleHead
Convicts at Joliet, Illinois, and San Quentin, California, were discovered growing it in prison garden patches. Cultivated plots have also been found-and destroyed-in such unexpected districts as Coney Island and the so-called "jungle" near Brooklyn bridge. -- Physical Culture Magazine - Feb. 1937
Prisoners in San Quentin were even cultivating a secret patch inside their high walls. -- True Story (Magazine) Dec. 1948
Hemp has been discovered concealed between rows of corn in the prison yards of San Quentin and Colorado State, in window-boxes of New York penthouses and in city lots in the Bronx. -- The American Scholar Vol.8. No.1 1938-1939
In California the plant was actually found growing in the yard of San Quentin prison; -- The Conspiracy of Silence (Book) 1938 - by Juanita Hansen and Preston Langley Hickey
Nearly every State has enacted legislation curbing production, and enforcement agents have discovered cultivated plots growing in Maryland, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and even in the San Quentin prison lot. -- Newsweek (Magazine) Aug 14, 1937
Mr. MCCORMACK: As a matter of fact, I understand they found that some were grown in one of our Federal prisons.
Mr.. Anslinger: They found some marihuana growing in one of the prisons. We heard of that. There was a seizure made in the Colorado State Reformatory for boys not long ago.
Mr. MCCORMACK: Was there not one made at San Quentin?
Mr.. Anslinger: Yes, sir. -- 1937 Congressional Testimony
[Between Jan 1935 -- Mar 1936] Sacramento Ca.
A sixteen-year-old boy in California was arrested for burglary. He had stolen a revolver and was on his way to stage a hold-up when he was arrested. He was under the influence of marihuana -- The Union Signal (WCTU) Jan. 30, 1937
"Here's a 16-year old boy in California, arrested for burglary," "He stole a revolver and was on his way to stage a hold-up when arrested. He was under the influence of marihuana. ----Arrest made between Jan. 1935 And Mar 31, 1936. -- Oakland Tribune (Newspaper) Oct. 11, 1936 “Don't be a MuggleHead”
"A sixteen-year-old boy, caught in a Sacramento burglary was 'high' on marihuana. -- MARIHUANA; The New Dangerous Drug (pamphlet) by Frederick T. Merrill 1950 version
CALIFORNIA---Sixteen-year-old boy, caught about to stage a holdup, found to be under the influence of marihuana. -- Survey Graphic (Magazine) April 1938
A 16-year-old boy in California was caught about to stage a holdup under the influence of marihuana. -- "Here's a 16-year old boy in California, arrested for burglary," he said, grabbing a sheath of reports from his desk and turning to the case cited. "He stole a revolver and was on his way to stage a hold-up when arrested. He was under the influence of marihuana. Article date between January, 1935 to march 31, 1936.
Then, there was another case of a 16-year-old how who was arrested in California for burglary. Under the influence of marihuana he had stolen a revolver and was on the way to stage a holdup when apprehended. -- INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL DIGEST - Sep, 1937
A sixteen-year-old boy was arrested in California for burglary. Under the influence of marijuana he had stolen a revolver and was on the way to stage a holdup when apprehended. -- American Magazine “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth” By H.J Anslinger - July 1937
[pre-1941] A sixteen-year-old in California thinks he is an oldtime road agent and tries to hold up a stage. -- Narcotic Agent: by Maurice Helbrant (book) 1941
California: Sept. 14, 1935
Police in Sacramento, Calif., arrested Tony Alvarez and confiscated 175 cannabis cigarettes and a supply of the plant in bulk form sufficient to produce 5,000 additional cigarettes.
[Museum Note: Sacramento Bee Sept 15, 1935 is mission from micro-film.]
California: Oct. 11, 1935
The state narcotic agents of California raided a ranch growth of Marihuana near Azusa, and found that the amount seized was enough to make some $25,000 worth of cigarettes. -- Finger Print & Identification Magazine March 1938 pp3
Oct. 11, 1935, State narcotic officers discovered one-half acre of cannabis (growing in a field near Azusa, Calif. A number of the plants had already been harvested. These weighed approximately 300 pounds. There were still about 309 flowering cannabis plants under cultivation. These, when uprooted, weighed approximately 150 pounds. The owners of the field, Pedro Lugo, Jesus Roigos, Antonio Figuerga, Frank Vasquez, Roque Vasquez, and Mrs. Polita Vasquez, were arrested together with Donald W. Ramsey, Edward Dobrilien, and Toby Whidden.
California: [Modesto]
1939 Modesta, California - Assaulted a housewife. Sentenced, 50 years -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1939 - Modesta, Calif. - M - Assaulted a housewife. Sentence 50 years -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
California:
1939 California - Male 20 Raped 7-year old girl Life, San Quentin, no parole. -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1939 - California - M - 20 - Raped 7-yr. girl. - Life, San Quentin, no parole. -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
California - [Pre-1939]
A SIREN, shrill and foreboding, pierced the air. Pedestrians scampered to the sidewalks and automobiles shied to the curbings as two ambulances, paced by two motorcycle officers, hurtled past, headed for the emergency hospital.Another physician, experimenting, said it seemed to take hours to walk to his desk, two steps away. A girl who had smoked a few reefers in Mexico became angry with her boyfriend as they were driving back. "If you're afraid to go any faster than this," she threatened, "I'm going to get out and walk." Pushing open the door she stepped out. The car was going 80 miles an hour, pursuing traffic officers reported. -- Fortnight Newsmagazine Aug 20, 1951 -- [Museum Note: Much of what was quoted in this magazine article was greatly Mis-Quoted!]
Soon the traffic resumed its dizzy pace, and the pedestrians, though momentarily startled, quickly regained their poise. Such occurrences were common in this large city; too common, in fact, to arouse comment beyond a casual cynical query, "Wonder who'll be next?" The people were hardened to such accidents, considered them a necessary evil - part of the warp and woof of city life, the price we pay for civilization.
This, however, was no ordinary accident; but they didn't know that. Neither did the orderlies who perfunctorily removed five mangled bodies from the ambulances upon their arrival at the hospital, and rolled them swiftly up the ramp into the building.
It was some time before anyone knew what was happening behind the closed doors of the emergency room. The two motorcycle police were in the corridor anxiously waiting for some word. Though calloused by witnessing frequent accidents, there were strange angles to this tragic wreck that aroused their suspicion.
Presently a doctor, young and alert, opened the door of the emergency room, stepped into the corridor, and in a crisp professional tone addressed the two waiting officers:
"Four are dead. The fifth, a girl, is still unconscious; but there is a good chance for her recovery despite broken arm, ribs, and internal injuries."
He paused, and then asked, "Do you know how it occurred?" "I saw the whole thing in the making," said Officer McFarland, tall and sun-browned; "but I can't quite figure it out. Lee and I were watching the intersection of Broad and Highway 30. About 3:15 P. M. a car with four high-school youngsters in it flashed by us, ignoring the stop sign. They didn't even slow or shift.
"We took after them, but couldn't seem to catch up. The faster we went the faster they went, till we were going eighty. We thought they were trying to get away from us. Suddenly the right front door of their car opened, and a girl was pushed out or she jumped out. She rolled over and over, and then lay still. The car, however, didn't even slow up.
"'You follow the car!' Lee shouted. 'I'll pick up the girl.' Seeing she was in a very bad condition, he hailed a passing car, and asked them to take her to the hospital. The girl, as you know, was dead when they got her here.
"In the meantime I stepped on it, and, at 85, I was barely creeping up on the speeding car. Suddenly it swerved into the left lane to pass a car ahead at the very moment that another car containing two persons was approaching. The road was straight for almost a mile, no fog, perfect visibility, but I saw that a head-on collision was inevitable if he didn't pull back instantly.
"I turned on my siren, but it did no good. As if bent on suicide and murder, the car ahead barged straight on at eighty. "The two cars came together with a terrific impact. They telescoped. The people in both cars didn't have a chance. It looked as if the kids deliberately steered into the other car." "H'm," exclaimed the doctor as he pondered the puzzling story. "Did you look for liquor?"
"That is the first thing we always do," replied the officer. "I searched both cars and occupants thoroughly, but could find no liquor, broken bottles, not even a smell of liquor anywhere."
"Accidents are tragically common these days, officer," observed the doctor; "but usually a cause can be found. Here, however, are two unexpected mysteries: Why did that girl jump from a car going eighty? Was it suicide, or murder, or an accident? And was the head-on collision deliberate or accidental?"
The door opened again, and a nurse beckoned the three men nearer. "I think the girl is regaining consciousness, doctor," she announced. "Come with me," the surgeon invited the two officers as he stepped into the room.
The doctor leaned over the girl. She was mumbling excitedly, incoherently, evidently trying to give a message. Her eyes rolled, terrified. He bent closer.
"Don't jump! Don't jump, Louise! Louise, don't jump! Jack, you are high! You are high! Stop the car!"
For several minutes she mumbled these words over and over with slight variation. Then she came to with a start, and asked almost hysterically, "Where am I, any way?"
"Calm yourself," said the doctor, with reassurance in his manner and voice. "You are in the hospital, my dear. There was an accident. You were riding in an automobile out on Highway 30 - remember?"
As memory crowded its scenes on her, she smothered a scream, and, turning frightened brown eyes on the doctor, asked, "The others? - and - and Russell, where is he?"
The doctors pressed her hand tenderly, and with steady eyes said, "They are in the other room." And then quickly to obviate further questioning, he asked, "Can you tell us about it - the wreck?" As the whole fantastic ride came back to her, the weird story was unfolded, sobbingly, in broken sentences. The suffering girl strove to attain a measure of calm.
"There were four of us. My boy friend, Russell, Louis and her boy friend, Jack, and I skipped last period class, and went over to Joe's Barbecue, where we had some tamales. Then Joe took us into a back room and sold us some reefers [marihuana cigarettes]. Nearly every afternoon we go over there to get a little bite to eat, and to smoke some of those special cigarettes. They make you feel very different. I was green at it, and was afraid to smoke too much because it made me feel so strange."
She paused and flushed as if there were secrets she wasn't going to tell. "This afternoon I took only two or three puffs on Russell's reefer after he kept coaxing and telling me it would help to make me a better pal, but the rest of the gang smoked several cigarettes apiece. Then someone suggested that we go for a ride to that tavern on the main highway. We got in Jack's car. Even before we were outside the city limits, he was going pretty fast, maybe fifty. He kept going faster and faster. I told him to slow down; but, instead, he stepped on the gas. I leaned over the front seat, and shouted: 'Jack, you are high on reefers! Stop the car!
"But he paid no attention, and began to complain that something must be wrong with the car because he couldn't get up any speed.
"Louise complained about going too slow too; and, even though we were hitting 80, she told Jack to step on it.
"'I can walk faster than this! I am going to get out and walk, and beat you there!' she hollered. Before I could grab her, she opened the front door and jumped out. It was terrible!
"When I looked back at Louise, I saw two cops following us. One stopped by Louise, but the other one kept right after us. I prayed that he would stop us before we had a wreck. Jack didn't even seem to notice that Louise had jumped out. I yelled to him to slow down because there was a cop right behind us.
"He only laughed, and said, 'You're crazy! Louise will beat us there if we don't hurry.'
"Then I saw him start to pass the car in front, while a car was coming toward us.
"'Jack, there's a car coming!' I screamed. 'Don't pass now!' But he went on like a madman, laughing: 'I can make it easy! That car is miles away,' he was saying just as we collided.
"That's all I remember," she said weakly. "Jack was always such a good driver, never reckless; I have ridden with him lots. But today he drove like a maniac. I guess he was high on refers.
"Will I live?" she asked, pathetic appeal in her voice and eyes. "You'll be all right; what you need right now is some rest," the doctor assured her. "You'd better go to sleep now."
A thorough search of the boy's clothes netted several hand-rolled marihuana cigarettes. The doctor fumbled them incredulously, looking at them quizzically as if unable to believe that such harmless-looking cigarettes could hold such tragedy.
Yes, in those cigarettes was the real story of the wreck, the story behind the story, - a story that for some strange reason seldom reaches the newspapers. If this were an isolated experience, it would not be told here. Actually it is typical of man y that are occurring every month throughout the nation. The sorry experience of these youths is a tragic echo of numerous accidents in the past, and a grisly harbinger of more to come. -- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
[Museum Note: To the best of our knowledge, there is No such intersection as "Broad and California Highway 30." In addition Mr. Rowell, while being a truthful individual, was known to embellish his stories with a little fiction.]
California - On June 22, 1958, about 2:30 A.M., two officers of the San Francisco Police Department noticed Joe Ross William Callegos, a Mexican, constantly blowing the horn of the automobile he was operating in downtown San Francisco. When the officers told Callegos that horn blowing at that hour was very annoying, Callegos sped away from them, on the wrong side of the street, completely disregarding traffic lights at two intersections. The officers pursued and finally overtook Callegos, who tried to throw away a marijuana cigarette. As one of the arresting officers picked up the cigarette, Callegos struck him and kicked the officer in the face and stomach as they handcuffed the defendant, who became so violent that the officers had to put cuffs on his feet to subdue him. During questioning Callegos appeared to be under the influence of a narcotic drug. Two marijuana seeds were found in one of his pockets.
How surprised and proud this Mexican Joe must have been if he ever learned that his horn-blowing and seed-carrying had been thus officially reported in such vivid detail by the U.S. Treasury department to Congress and by the U.S. Government to the United Nations. -- The Drug Hang Up, America's Fifty-Year Folly by Rufus King Quoting the TRAFFIC IN OPIUM AND OTHER DANGEROUS DRUGS
DELAWARE:
Delaware - 1936---A man was killed in Wilmington, Del. by one Pettyjohn. When the police attempted to arrest Pettyjolin for the crime he attacked the police with a long knife. To protect their lives, the police officers shot and killed Pettyjohn. . . . .On the same date one Cleveland Hodge was arrested in Wilmington for possession of about 3 pounds of marihuana. Hodge said he had gathered the plant from a plot of ground used by Rhodes, the man who was murdered as above described, and further stated that Rhodes had told him about the weed, which he called "weaver weed"; that if a tea was made from it, it would cure rheumatism. Hodge said he used a cup of this tea three times a day and had done so for a long time; and both Rhodes and Pettyjohn were apparently under the influence of marihuana. This case was prosecuted in Delaware under the Uniform State Narcotic Act. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
1936 - W. Pettijohn, - Wilmington, Del.-Killed J. Rhodes while under influence marihuana. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
In Wilmington, Delaware, a man was brutally murdered by a marihuana addict named Pettyjohn. When police attempted to arrest the murderer, he attacked them with a long knife. So murderous was his assault upon the officers that in order to protect themselves they were forced to shoot him dead. On that same day a man named Hodge was arrested in the same city for possession of marihuana. Hodge said he gathered the plants from a plot of ground owned by the man who was killed by Pettyjohn. Both Pettyjohn and his victim were under the influence of marihuana at the time the murder was committed, according to Hodge, who confessed that he himself had used the drug every day for a long time. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
In Wilmington, Delaware, a man was brutally murdered by a marihuana addict named Pettyjohn. When police attempted to arrest the murderer, he attacked them with a long knife. So murderous was his assault upon the officers that in order to protect themselves they were forced to shoot him dead. On that same day a man named Hodge was arrested in the same city for possession of marihuana. Hodge said he gathered the plants from a plot of ground owned by the man who was killed by Pettyjohn. Both Pettyjohn and his victim were under the influence of marihuana at the time the murder was committed, according to Hodge, who confessed that he himself had used the drug every day for a long time. -- The Moloch of Marihuana (1945) By Robert James Devine
1936 Wilmington, Delaware - M Killed J. Rhodes while under influence marihuana. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
In Wilmington, Delaware, a man was brutally murdered by an addict. When the officers tried to arrest him, he attacked them with a knife. They were forced to shoot him dead. Both he and his victim were marihuana addicts. -- Book 1939- Enemies Of Youth
I have noticed that many of these violators have a record of assault. In Wilmington, Delaware, there was the case of John Rhodes, who attacked an officer with a knife and was shot and killed resisting arrest. --Marihuana Conference Held-- Dec. 5, 1938
GEORGIA
[Between Jan 1935 - Mar-1936] - Georgia
Columbus, Ga.; Federal agents, aided by the local police, raided the premises of a house in this city and found marihuana growing in a plot of ground 10 by 30 feet between two houses. Approximately fourteen pounds of marihuana was found in the house and in a building at the rear, in the process of being dried. The estimated weight of the growing marihuana was fixed at 125 pounds. ----Arrest made between Jan. 1935 And Mar 31, 1936. -- Oakland Tribune (Newspaper) Oct. 11, 1936 “Don't be a MuggleHead”
[Pre-1937] - Georgia
An eighteen-year-old boy in Georgia, which shows the ease with which reefers may be obtained and the early effects of smoking them. In the boy's own words the report reads: --- "While walking around the vegetable curb market in Atlanta, I passed the stand of the hot tamale man, who asked 'Do you want any hot tamales? I said, 'Don't you have anything stronger?' He said yes, and sold me two marijuana cigarettes for twenty-five cents. I had never seen this kind of cigarette before. I smoked one of them, and it gave me a headache. Then I smoked the other one, and began to feel it. My mind changed in a queer sort of way. I craved some more of the cigarettes, and, not having any money, I pawned my shoes for a dollar, and bought a bag of dried leaves to roll my own. After a couple more cigarettes, I began to feel as if I were on top of the world. I would walk up to anyone and ask for anything without hesitancy. Then I felt as if I would do something desperate. However, I was very tired, and fell asleep. I stayed asleep for two whole days and nights." -- Heath magazine Oct. 1938
What is the effect of this drug that has been the excuse offered for atrocious attacks, for robberies, thefts, and murder? Here we have the reaction of an eighteen-year-old boy: --- "While walking up around the curb market in Atlanta, Georgia, I passed the stand of the hot tomale man who asked me: 'Do you want any hot tomales?' I said, ‘Don't you have anything stronger?' He said, 'Yes,' and sold me two marihuana cigarettes for twenty-five cents. I had never seen this kind of cigarette before. I smoked one of them and it gave me a headache. Then I smoked the other one and began to feel it. My mind changed in a queer sort of way. I craved some more of the cigarettes, and, not having any money, I pawned my shoes for one dollar and bought a bag of dried leaves to roll my own. --- "After a couple more cigarettes, I began to feel like I was on top of the world. I would walk up to anyone and ask them for anything without any hesitancy. Then I felt like I would do something desperate. --- "However, I was very tired and fell asleep. I stayed asleep for two whole days and nights." -- National Parent-Teacher (PTA) - May, 1938
An Atlanta boy who robbed his father’s safe of thousands of dollars in jewelry and cash. Of high-school age, this boy apparently had been headed for an honest, successful career. Gradually, however, his father noticed a change in him. Spells of shakiness and nervousness would be succeeded by periods when the boy would assume a grandiose manner and engage in excessive, senseless laughter, extravagant conversation, and wildly impulsive actions. When these actions finally resulted in robbery the father went at his son’s problem in earnest - and found the cause of it a marijuana peddler who catered to school children. The peddler was arrested. -- American Magazine “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth” By H.J Anslinger - July 1937
"While walking u around the curb market in Atlanta, Georgia, I passed the stand of the hot tamale man who asked me, "Do you want any hot tamales?" I said, "Don't you have anything stronger? He said, "Yes" and sold me two Marihuana cigarettes for twenty-five cents. I had never seen this kind of cigarette before. I smoked one of them and it gave me a headache. Then I smoked the other one and began to feel it. My mind changed in a queer sort of way. I craved some more of the cigarettes and, not having any money, I pawned my shoes for one dollar and bought a bag of dried leaves to roll my own. After a couple more cigarettes, I began to feel like I was on top of the world. I would walk up to anyone and ask them for anything without hesitancy. Then I felt like I would do something desperate. However, I was very tired and fell asleep. I stayed asleep for two whole days and nights." (This statement was made by an 18-year old boy.) -- The Drug Demon (Pamphlet) 1940
The reactions of a beginner are shown in this stenographic copy of a report from the police of Atlanta, Georgia, who found a youth wandering about the streets, barefooted: “While walking up around the curb market in Atlanta. I passed the stand of the hot tamale man, who asked me: “Do you want any hot tamales? “DO said: Don’t you have anything stronger? He said: Yes, and sold me two marihuana cigarettes for twenty-five cents. I have never seen this kind of a cigarette before. I smoked one of them and it gave me a headache. Then I smoked the other one and began to feel it. My mind changed in a queer sort of way. I crave some more of the cigarettes, and, not having any money, I pawned my shoes for one dollar and bought a bag of dried leaves to roll my own. After a couple more cigarettes, I began to feel like I was on top of the world. I would walk up to anyone and ask them for anything without any hesitancy. Then I felt like I would do something desperate. However, I was very tired and fell asleep. I stayed asleep for two whole days and nights.” -- Inside detective Nov 1937
A high school boy in Atlanta, Georgia, stole thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry from his father's safe. Prior to this act of base ingratitude it had been noticed that the boy was subject to rapid and seemingly inexplicable changes in temperament and conduct. Periods when he manifested an exaggerated ego, characterized by a grandiose manner a extravagant conversation, were followed by spells of shakiness and despondency. When the robbery of his father's store finally climaxed his peculiar actions, an investigation traced the cause of the crime to a marihuana peddler who catered to school children. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
A high school boy in Atlanta, Georgia, stole thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry from his father's safe. Prior to this act of base ingratitude it had been noticed that the boy was subject to rapid and seemingly inexplicable changes in temperament and conduct. Periods when he manifested an exaggerated ego, characterized by a grandiose manner and extravagant conversation, were followed by spells of shakiness and despondency. When the robbery of his father's store finally climaxed his peculiar actions, an investigation traced the cause of the crime to a marihuana peddler who catered to school children. -- The Moloch of Marihuana (1945) By Robert James Devine
Georgia 1953 Camp Gordon, Georgia - Male 23 Indecent exposure 6 occasions to girls 10 to 12 years old; each time under influence marihuana; trumpet, musician; smoking marihuana over year. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1953 - L. Gluckin, - Camp Gordon, Georgia - M - 23 - Indecent exposure 6 occasions to girls 10 to 12 years old; Each time under influence marihuana; trumpet, musician; smoking marihuana over year. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
ILLINOIS
Chicago - Pre-Feb 1935
Keywords Lieutenant William Cusack, School Superintend William Joseph Bogan
In Chicago the press has said: -- "Shocked by disclosures of dope being; peddled to high school students, police and school officials of Chicago yesterday lunched a double-barreled drive against the traffic in habit-forming drugs ...."Informed that peddlers of marihuana, held by crime fighters to be as vicious as narcotics or opiates, are making their headquarters near high schools, Superintendent of Schools Bogan ordered his district superintendents to launch an investigation and submit reports. Lieutenant William Cusack, head of the narcotic squad, revealed the marihuana weed is being grown domestically-plots of ground being devoted to it within a few miles of Chicago. . . . He has sent 197 peddlers of it to jail, deported 50 persons to Mexico for selling the weed, seized 167 pounds of marihuana and 183,000 cigarets---within the past year. " -- The Union Signal (WCTU) Feb 1935
[Pre-Feb 1935] - Chicago
The marihuana, in cigaret form, had been procured in this case, from the man who kept a school supply store just around the corner from the school. (If any of my readers wish to locate any the source of supply of marihuana ciqarets in his or her city let him look first within a block of the high school! This storekeeper sold chocolate bars and gum; milk and school supplies. The children initiated into the "reefer" group pooled the candy and milk money given them by fond parents, and purchased a supply of "Mary Warners". The lower-than-skunk storekeeper in this case, supplied them with a basement room, which he had furnished with a couple of old mattresses and other needed pieces of furniture. Here he could guarantee them freedom from interference for hours at a time. He had even sent his wife and family away on an extended visit to make sure that his illicit operations would not be discovered.
Here the youngsters played at being married. Rings stolen from the ten-cent stores served to bind the mock ceremonies which permitted unbridled lusts to have full sway. Probing by the juvenile judge resulted in shamefaced girls sobbing out sordid stories disclosing many nights of debauchery and degradation. Sometimes these young girls would be too drunk to leave the basement where they had staged their "parties" and so had to stay all night. Each party was a continuous round of dissipation, drunkenness and drugs.
The stories of the girls varied according to the number of marihuana parties they had attended. Some of them said they had started their wrongdoing because they lost control of themselves after smoking a few "Mary Warners". One said she had gone ahead even though she knew it was wrong, because she "loved" her boy friend and was afraid that some other girl would take him from her.
One boy, 16 years of age, just before he was called to testify, took his "girl" by the arm and said:
"Don't worry, kid. I've been in this mess before and I can tell whether it's serious or not. They won't do anything to us. All they'll do is tell us to be good."
But the little girl was really afraid. She had heard something said about a doctor and a physical examination. Poor child, the marks of her serious adventures were stamped upon her for life. All but one of her little girl friends were in her unfortunate class. The sole exception was found just in time to save her from the same fate as the others.
The story itself reads like many other records of almost any juvenile court. But no amount of repetition or callousness can take away the tragedy and misery of each individual case.
Detailed evidence in court describes such parties as are staged by young boys and girls who have learned to smoke marihuana cigarets. -- RELIGIOUS DIGEST - Dec. 1937 - “THE MENACE OF MARIHUANA” By Robert James Devine
"Investigation of the sale of drugs to, school children in the M----- school district was ordered last night after a boy of fifteen had attacked his father, a music teacher, with a knife while crazed with marihuana cigarets. Only the father's quick action in wresting the weapon from the youth saved the parent from death or serious injury. After hearing the boy's story the officers arrested the owner of the school store and the clerk from whom the boy said he bought the cigarets." -- The Union Signal (WCTU) Feb 1935
Let me tell of one case that the Rev. Mr. Devine tells about in his book called "The Moloch of Marihuana." "The marihuana in this case had been obtained in cigarette form from a man who kept a school store just around the corner from the school. He sold chocolate bars, gum, milk and school sup-plies. The children initiated into the "reefer" group pooled the candy and milk money given them by their parents and purchased a supply of "Mary Warners." The storekeeper provided the youngsters with a basement room which he furnished with a couple of old mattresses and other furniture. Here he could guarantee them freedom from interference for hours at a time. He had even sent his wife and family away on an extended visit to make sure that his illicit operations would not be discovered.
"HERE THE YOUNGSTERS PLAYED AT BEING MARRIED. Rings from the ten cent store served to bind the mock ceremonies which permitted unbridled lusts to have full sway. When the juvenile judge probed the girls, they sobbed out sordid stories disclosing many nights of debauchery and degradation. Shamefaced, they testified that sometimes they would be too drunk to leave the basement where they had staged their parties and so had to stay all night. Each party was a continuous round of dissipation, drunkenness and drugs. Some said they had started their wrongdoing because they lost control of themselves after taking a few puffs of a "Mary Warner." One said she had gone ahead even though she knew it was wrong because she loved her boy friend and was afraid some other girl would take him. One boy, sixteen, took his girl by the arm and said, 'Don't worry kid. I've been in this mess before and I can tell whether it is serious or not. They won't do anything to us. All they'll do is to tell us to be good!"
One girl in giving evidence in front of her parents said: "My father works nights and I knew I was safe if I got home by one-thirty on my mother's club nights." -- Book 1939- Enemies Of Youth
The marihuana, in cigarette form, had been procured in this instance from a man who kept a school supply store just around the corner from the school. This storekeeper sold chocolate bars and gum, milk and school supplies. The children initiated into the "reefer" group Pooled the candy and milk money given them by fond parents, and purchased a supply of "Mary Warners." The lower-than-skunk storekeeper in this case supplied the youngsters with a basement room, which he had furnished with a couple of old mattresses and other furniture. Here he could guarantee them freedom from interference for hours at a time. He had even sent his wife and family away on an extended visit to make sure that his illicit operations would not be discovered.
Here the youngsters played at being married. Rings stolen from the ten-cent stores served to bind the mock ceremonies which permitted unbridled lusts to have full sway. Probing by the juvenile judge resulted ,in shamefaced girls sobbing out sordid stories disclosing many nights of debauchery and degradation. Sometimes, so these young girls testified, they would be too drunk to leave the basement where they had staged their "parties" and so had to stay all night. Each party was a continuous round of dissipation, drunkenness and drugs.
The stories of the girls varied according to the number of marihuana parties they had attended. Some of them said they had started their wrongdoing because they lost control of themselves after taking a few "puffs" of a "Mary Warner." One said she had gone ahead even though she knew it was wrong, because she "loved" her boy friend and was afraid that some other girl would take him from her.
One boy, sixteen years of age, just before he was called to testify, took his "girl" by the arm and said: "Don't worry, kid. I've been in this mess before and I can tell whether it's serious or not. They won't do anything to us. All they'll do is tell us to be good."
But the little girl was really afraid. She had heard something said about a doctor and a physical examination. Poor child, the marks of her serious adventures were already stamped upon her for life. All but one of her little girl friends were in her unfortunate class. The sole exception was found in time to save her from the same fate as the others. -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
In Chicago a school supply store was discovered selling reefers to boys and girls, some of whom had become temporarily blinded by the weed. -- American Mercury - Dec 1935
The marihuana, in cigarette form, had been procured in this instance from a man who kept a school supply store at around the corner from the school. This storekeeper sold chocolate bars and gum, milk and school supplies. The children initiated into the "reefer" group pooled the candy and milk money given them by fond parents, and purchased a supply of "Mary Wamers." The lower-than-skunk storekeeper in this case supplied the youngsters with a basement room, which he had furnished with a couple of old mattresses and other furniture. Here he could guarantee them freedom from interference for hours at a time. He had even sent his wife and family away on an extended visit to make sure that his illicit operations would not be discovered. Here the youngsters played at being married. Rings stolen from the ten-cent stores served to bind the mock ceremonies which permitted unbridled lusts to have full sway. Probing by the juvenile judge resulted in shame-faced girls sobbing out sordid stories disclosing many nights of debauchery and degradation. Sometimes, so these young girls testified, they would be too drunk to leave the basement where they had staged their "parties" and so had to stay all night. Each party was a continuous round of dissipation, drunkenness and drugs. The stories of the girls varied according to the number of marihuana parties they had attended. Some of them said they had started their wrongdoing because they lost control of themselves after taking a few puffs" of a "Mary Warner." One said she had gone ahead even though she knew it was wrong, because she "loved" her boy friend and was afraid that some other girl would take him from her. One boy, sixteen years of age, just before he was called to testify, took his "girl" by the arm and said: "Don't worry, kid. I've been in this mess before and I can tell whether it's serious or not. They won't do anything to us. All they'll do is tell us to be good." But the little girl was really afraid. She had heard something said about a doctor and a ' physical examination. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
Illinois - [Between Jan 1935 - Mar 1936] Joliet, Ill.; Convicts in Northern Illinois Penitentiary were said to have been sold marihuana cigarettes by a notorious murderer---wanted in New York and Pennsylvania, but committed for life in Illinois. A convict became so obstreperous that an investigation was made of his cell, which led to the discovery of particles of marihuana, and later to a flourishing garden of the weed in an abandoned stone quarry, which was the source of supply. ----Arrest made between Jan. 1935 And Mar 31, 1936. -- Oakland Tribune (Newspaper) Oct. 11, 1936 “Don't be a MuggleHead”
Illinois - 1936 - William Barnett of Chicago, ILL., was arrested for the possession of marihuana. At the time of Barnett's arrest he was in possession of a letter from Pete Gurralo, alias Joseph Fierro, of Mankato, Minn., offering to furnish marihuana in any quantity from 1 pound up. On Sep. 22, 1936, Balli, alias Tom Gurrola, killed a man at Albert Lea, Minn. Following the murder he escaped from prison and fled to the farm of his father. He was identical with the man who offered to supply marihuana to Barnett. When the officer went to the farm to apprehend him, he found 6 or 7 bushels of marihuana contained in a sack and two cardboard boxes, and concealed under a haystack -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
Chicago - Pre-Jan 1937 Key words two youths / policeman In Chicago, two marihuana-smoking boys murdered a policeman. -- Detective World - Dec. 1947
In Chicago recently two boys murdered a policeman while under the influence of marihuana. -- 1937 Congressional Testimony
In Chicago, two marijuana smoking boys murdered a policeman. -- American Magazine “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth” By H.J Anslinger - July 1937
In Chicago, Illinois, two boys murdered a policeman, and stated that they did it while under the influence of MARIHUANA. -- The Union Signal (WCTU) Jan. 30, 1937
[No mention of Medical Marihuana use] [This Must be the case, it is the only one that fits] Chicago Tribune: [ ]-Jun 26, 1936 pg 11 -- “Move to Indict 2 parolees in Police Slaying” Murder of Policeman Jerome McCauley on May 29, -- killed the policeman while being pursued after several holdups. Andrew Bogacki 25 years ; Paul Jenkot 26 yrs also Frank Korczykowski 27 [ ]- Aug 2, 1936 pg 1 -- “Two Killers to Die; Third Gets 199 Yrs.” [ ]-Aug 4, 1936 pg 15 “Three Deputies Discharged for Killers Break” [ ]- Aug 16, 1936 pg 17 -- “Policeman Wins Hero Award for Shooting Killer” [ ]- Sep 29, 1936 pg 11 -- “Police Slayer Sentenced to 199 Years in Prison” [ ]- Oct 21, 1936 pg 1 -- “Two Slayers of Policeman die in chair”
Chicago [Editorial NOTE - Extensive research of both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Defender fail to turn up anything -- High probability that this incident did not happen ]
Pre-July 1937 Chicago Apartment building / 5th Floor / High School girl / 13-18 Then another suicide is chalked up. Actually this has occurred, as in the case of a young girl in Chicago, who hurled herself several stories from an apartment building where a reefer party was in full swing. The death of this youth was a poignant example of how fantasies, apparently harmless, have their tragic results -- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
THE sprawled body of a young girl lay crushed on the sidewalk the other day after a plunge from the fifth story of a Chicago apartment house. -- American Magazine “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth” By H.J Anslinger - July 1937
There was that little school-girl in Chicago, having hard work to pass her exams, in Algebra, etc., and told by "reefer" addicted school-mates that she could pass anything, and would be "out of her troubles in no time" if she would smoke "reefers." She was-so far as this world is concerned. Cannabis-crazed, she stepped out of a fifth-story window, and dashed her brains out on the pavement below! -- War With the Underworld 1946
A mother in the city of Chicago, sobbingly watching her once-lovely daughter dying as a result of the "reefer racket," told authorities that, to her knowledge, not less than fifty of her daughter's friends were virtual slaves to the power of marihuana. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
HIGH SCHOOL, youngsters who turn to banditry for thrills, girls who leap from skyscraper windows, striplings who chop their parents to death --THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY - June 29, 1938
A high-school girl had heard some whisperings concerning the “kick” offered by the new kind of cigarette; after smoking a reefer, she was able to dance long without fatigue; time became elastic and in her state of exhilaration all else seemed inconsequential; studies were entirely neglected, she became despondent, but a few puffs of her faithful cigarette brought relief; finally, coming to full realization of her school problem, she deliberately walked to an open window and leaped to her death. -- American Journal of the Medical Sciences - 1938 pg 351
There are numerous cases on record like that of the young girl who heard about a new thrill, a cigarette with a "real kick" which gave wonderful reactions and "no" harmful after-effects. With some friends she experimented at an evening smoking, party. Other parties followed and then, when she was behind with her studies and greatly worried about her grades, suddenly, under the influence of this deadly drug, she walked to and through an open window. -- DETECTIVE WORLD (Magazine) - Dec. 1947
Illinois - 1938 Chicago - Male Broke nose J. N. by striking with gallon clay jug and pulled knife. Police officer then destroyed growing crop nearby. Was Arrested. -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1938 - J. Arrga, - Chicago - m -Broke nose J.N. by striking with gallon clay jug; Pulled knife. Police officers then destroyed growing crop nearby. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Illinois - On the night of November 4, 1947, at Chicago, M., a narcotic agent, after negotiating with an intermediary, Ralph Hicks, for the purchase of five pounds (2 kilograms, 268 grams) of marijuana or a total of $500 was taken to a point near the intersection of Loomis and Polk Streets where AGREDANO appeared with the marijuana. When the agent attempted to place him under arrest, AGREDANO drew a pistol and the agent was compelled to shoot him, the bullet going through his left arm and penetrating the chest cavity. AGREDANO died of these wounds on November 5, 1947 -- The Drug Hang Up, America's Fifty-Year Folly by Rufus King Quoting the TRAFFIC IN OPIUM AND OTHER DANGEROUS DRUGS
ILLINOIS - [Pre- 1954] - Chicago Another Chicago paper stated: "Dope peddlers lurk near Chicago high schools with abundant supplies of narcotics for gullible teen-age students, school principals complain. At one school, students have told their principal they can purchase 'reefers' from push-cart peddlers who ostensibly sell luncheon frankfurters. Purchases are also made from agents in alleys, parks, hallways, hotel rooms, and even, in at least one case, from the head usher in a theater. The school principals are alarmed by the increasing addiction to narcotics. They agree that the ironclad rule of 'no-smoking' discourages the 'reefer' smoker until classes are dismissed. After that, the peddlers take over. We've had the police chase them away, but they always come back." -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
[pre-Oct 1936] The Chicago Daily News tells of seizure by cops of 40,000 marihuana cigarettes . . . intended for sale to schoolchildren, a fine trade having been worked up among these striplings. -- The Literary Digest (Magazine) Oct 24, 1936
INDIANA
Indiana - 1936 A fifty-year-old dope peddler was murdered in July 1936, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His police record included sentences for crimes ranging from petit larceny to murder, and he was killed by an assailant who cracked the peddler's head with a table leg, during an argument which developed when he accused two acquaintances of cutting into his dope racket. He had been convicted twice for selling narcotics. Approximately 4 pounds of MARIHUANA were seized from him and another man previous to his murder. -- The Union Signal (WCTU) Jan. 30, 1937
Madison State Hospital [initially called the Southeastern Hospital for the Insane] Madison, Indiana superintendent Dr. James W. Milligan (1915-1944)
Indiana - Pre-July 1938 Another high school boy is in the insane asylum at Madison, Indiana, a raving maniac never more to breathe the fresh air and feel the sunshine of the farm, just because he joined a smoking party and got into the "habit." -- KIWANIS MAGAZINE - Oct. 1938
A young man in Fayette county, Indiana, has gone insane from the use of marijuana or "dope" cigarettes. He is now a crazed, wild boy gazing out of the windows of Madison Insane Hospital, his mind destroyed. But for the coaxing of a vicious marijuana peddler, this boy would be working in the sunshine and the green fields of the home farm. His life is broken, and he is only one of thousands being ruined in Indiana, Illinois and the Middle West by heartless, money-grabbing "dope" rings. -- The Prairie Farmer - July 30, 1938
IDAHO
The Mayor of Boise, Idaho, is quoted as follows: "The Mexican beet-field workers have introduced a new problem-the smoking in cigarettes and pipes, of Marihuana or Grifo. Its use is as demoralizing as the use of other narcotics, and Idaho has no law to cope with the use and spread of this dangerous drug". -- JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY- May-June 1932/Mar.-Apr., 1933
KANSAS
Kansas - Aug 24, 1929 -- Kansas
August 24, 1929 KANSAS CITY KANSAN:- (dispatch concerning the discovery by Wichita Police of the prevalence of Marihuana parties held by young boys and girls at roadhouses near this city)
The Kansas City Star charges that marihuana is being smoked by students in the Kansas City high schools, and in the University of Kansas. -- The Literary Digest (Magazine) Oct 24, 1936
Kansas - [1933] 1933 Wichita, Kansas - Male Killed in fight over marihuana. -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1933 - J. Perez, - Wichita, Kan. - Killed in fight over marihuana. - Dead -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
KENTUCKY
NEWPORT, KY. On Feb. 24, 1938, police officers of Newport, Ky., arrested Ralph Bridowell for the possession of stolen property. While searching his premises they found a total of 8 kg. 306 gm. of marihuana, to which he acknowledged ownership and claimed to have purchased it from a man whose name he did not know. On February 25, 1938, his brother, Harry Bridewell, was arrested for the sale of marihuana cigarettes. Both pleaded guilty and each was sentenced to serve a term of 5 years in the Penitentiary. Each had previously served a penitentiary term for violations of the liquor laws.
LOUISIANA
Louisiana - 1935- New Orleans, La. - M Violently attacked officers with knife and revolver while being arrested for possession of marihuana. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1935 - M. Henriquez, - New Orleans, La. - m - Violently attacked officers with knife and revolver while being arrested for possession marihuana. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Violently attacked officers with knife and revolver while under influence of marijuana. -- The Truth about Marijuana - STEPPING STONE to DESTRUCTION June 1967
A seizure of 115 marihuana cigarettes was made in New Orleans, La., at which time the owner, foiled by officers in an attempt to shoot himself, grabbed a butcher knife and stabbed himself three times above the heart. He escaped, and was later found, and had in his possession an ice pick, with which he attempted to destroy himself when placed under arrest. He made a second escape. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
“ . . another stabs himself with an icepick when police approach. --Cosmopolitan (Magazine) May 1938
Sept. 27, 1935, police at New Orleans, La., raided a cannabis cigarette "factory" in that city and arrested Anthony Fazzio, Alice Fazzio, and Henry Denapolis. Only a small quantity of loose cannabis was discovered, but one person, subsequently ascertained to be one Mary Rodriguez, escaped with a package, which one of the defendants stated contained 4,000 marihuana cigarettes. On November 24, 1935, the same police raided the premises occupied by Robert Williams and William Cayce, Jr., and seized 10 tin bread boxes containing 10,000 cannabis cigarettes. The defendants were held for prosecution. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1935)
New Orleans.-During Feb. 1936 Federal narcotic agent and local police officers raided the premises of Ampton Stanno an found their entrance to a rear downstairs door obstructed by strongly reinforced door, in the center of which was a small slot through which purchasers of marihuana cigarettes would insert the money and in turn receive cigarettes. When the officers gained admission through the barred door they found 400 marihuana cigarette contained in a tin box lying on a table, and near to the cigarette box small case containing a sum of money and marihuana ready for cigarette wrapping. Ampton Stanno and Jane Williams, who were found in this house, were placed under arrest. Robert Williams, alias Jimmie Smith, was sought as another member of this illicit marihuana ring but could not be found. A warrant was issued for his arrest. In a house to the rear of Stanno's, the police officers found a large pasteboard box enclosing one bundle which contained about 3 pounds of marihuana, 25 pounds of marihuana seed and dried marihuana leaves. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
Louisiana - Bourg and Houma.-On April 24, 1936, 2,500 marihuana plants growing on an area of about 3 acres, 12 pounds in bulk marihuana, and 67 marihuana cigarettes were seized and confiscated on a farm near Bourg, La., and five persons were arrested on charges of violation of the marihuana law. Ralph Savoise, Mrs. Ralph Savoise, Felix Blanchard, "Cookie" Lanaud, and David North were growing and selling marihuana cigarettes to oil-field workers and to school children. Complaints were made by parents of some of the children to Federal narcotic and local officers. Extensive investigations were made until all participants in this illicit traffic at Houma and Bourg were arrested. A prosecution was instituted in the parish district court. Conviction, which is expected, would carry a mandatory penalty of from 20 months to 5 years each. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
August 22, 1936 - LOUISIANA - William L. Rousseau was arrested by local officers under the provisions of the Louisiana State narcotic act on August 22, 1936, for growing and possessing marihuana. Reports had been received that marihuana cigarettes were being sold at Rousseau's home. While officers waited outside in automobiles, they observed several addicts approach Rousseau's door to purchase marihuana cigarettes. Police found in the kitchen two 1-pound coffee cans full of marihuana cigarettes and two packages of the narcotic in drying form. In the yard among four branching trees and growing vegetables were 100 growing marihuana plants about 12 feet tall. The police destroyed the plants. William L. Rousseau, father of William A. Rousseau, said that the marihuana had been planted by his son for the purpose of obtaining seed to feed a pet redbird belonging to the younger Rousseau. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
LOUISIANA Sep. 19, 1936 English Turn, Plaquemines Parish.---Officers of the Louisiana State police seized and destroyed large quantities of harvested and dried marihuana on two adjoining farms at English Turn, Plaquemines Parish, on September 19, 1936. At the first farm they raided they found about 5,000 stalks lying in a field and stored in a barn, and also 300 pounds of dried marihuana ready for smoking. Later, while continuing their investigations of the farm, the officers discovered 800 pounds of marihuana stalks which had been harvested from an adjacent tract of land about 7 acres in area. Felix Caserta, about 30 years old, was the owner and occupant of the second farm, which consisted of about 40 acres. Caserta resided on the farm with his wife and children. He admitted that he knew that the plants were marihuana and that he had cut them down the day previous to the officers raid on his place. He was arrested on charges of violation of the State uniform narcotic law. Later Luke Cutrera, farmer, and Dominic Richarda, who lived on and operated adjacent farms, were arrested for possession of illicit marihuana. Cutrera was reported to have been hired by marihuana peddlers to drive quantities of the narcotic into New Orleans. Stalks, seeds, and dried marihuana were found in a truck on Cutrera's farm. Officers destroyed all of the plants in the area in which the marihuana crop had been harvested. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
Louisiana - [1937] An evidence of how large the traffic may be came to light last year near La Fitte, La. Neighbors of an Italian family had become amazed by wild stories told by the children of the family. They, it seemed, had suddenly become millionaires. They talked of owning inconceivable amounts of money, of automobiles they did not possess, of living in a palatial home. At last their absurd lies were reported to the police, who discovered that their parents were allowing them to smoke something that came from the tops of tall plants which their father grew on his farm. There was a raid, in which more than 500,000 marijuana plants were destroyed. This discovery led next day to another raid on a farm at Bourg, La. Here a crop of some 2,000 plants was found to be growing between rows of vegetables. The eight persons arrested confessed that their main source of income from this crop was in sales to boys and girls of high-school age. -- American Magazine “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth” By H.J Anslinger - July 1937
LOUISIANA La Fitte.--May 23, 1936, one Machesto Pazini was arrested for possession of a large quantity of cannabis cigarettes and for owning 3,000 cannabis plants. Pazini had been permitting his children to smoke these cigarettes, and their consequent delusions of grandeur led to the discovery of the cannabis cache. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
Louisiana - Pre-1938 I could stand here for hours quoting individual examples of tragic results of the use of marijuana cigarettes. I myself was present in an exclusive country club in Louisiana when a young man, after using marijuana cigarettes and while in resultant fit of jealousy, shot his small girl companion. -- New York Herald Tribune Forum 1938
Louisiana - 1938---NEW ORLEANS, LA. Investigations conducted in New Orleans during the months of April to July 1938, resulted in a series of purchases of marihuana cigarettes from 13 members of the Albano gang and the securing of evidence against another member of the gang. On August 18, 1938, the grand jury returned indictments against 14 of these individuals, 12 of whom either were convicted or pleaded guilty, and received sentences ranging from 17 months to 3 years. Two of the defendants have not been apprehended. -- After having made purchases of marihuana cigarettes from all four members of a ring of marihuana traffickers during the period from May 10 to July 7, 1938, narcotic officers arrested Russel Saia, Anthony Cangimilla, and Ralph LaCoste. Saia and Canogimilla were tried, convicted, and each sentenced to 30 months in the penitentiary. LaCoste pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 17 months. Roy Saia, the fourth member of the ring, is under indictment but has not yet been apprehended. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1938)
According to press reports from New Orleans, Louisiana, several murders and an alarming increase in large and small thief's, were attributed to MARIHUANA. -- The Union Signal (WCTU) Jan. 30, 1937
In forty-four New Orleans high schools students were smoking marijuana. Out of 450 Louisiana criminals 150 were marijuana smokers. Hundreds of peddlers were working around the schools and factories of Detroit. Cleveland was infested with "pushers." Hundreds of pounds of the stuff was coming over the Mexican border and through the southern ports. Sailors were buying it for ten dollars a kilo in Mexico and selling it for fifty dollars a kilo in the United States. Prisoners in San Quentin were even cultivating a secret patch inside their high walls. -- True Story (Magazine) Dec. 1948
The role of the latter as a crime instigator is suggested by the report of the public prosecutor in New Orleans who in 1930 found that of 450 prisoners he dealt with, 125 were marihuana addicts. Slightly less than half of the murderers, about twenty percent of the larceny men and about eighteen per cent of the robbery prisoners smoked what they called Merry Wonder. -- The American Mercury - Dec 1935
MARYLAND
Maryland - October 1936, the chief engineer of a vessel arriving at Baltimore complained to the Federal narcotic office that the crew of his vessel were using some unknown narcotic that was so virulent in its effects on the men that the officers were obliged to protect themselves by carrying blackjacks to ward off attacks. The narcotic agent made an extensive investigation and ascertained that a fireman, aged 22, was a marihuana user, and that two of the seamen on the ship had purchased a bag of dried marihuana while ashore in the Canal Zone and smuggled it aboard the ship where it was consumed by members of the crew. Officers of the steamer said these men were “under the influence of this narcotic throughout the trip to Baltimore and that their conduct bordered on the mutinous." -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
Baltimore, Md. 1936. The chief engineer of a vessel arriving at Baltimore complained to the Federal narcotic office that the crew of his vessel were using some unknown narcotic that was so virulent in its effects on the men that the officers were obliged to protect themselves by carrying blackjacks to ward off attacks. The narcotic agent ascertained that a fireman, aged twenty-two, was a marihuana user, and that two of the seamen on the ship had purchased a bag of dried marihuana while ashore in the Canal Zone and smuggled it aboard ship, where it was consumed by members of the crew. Officers of the steamship said these men were "under the influence of this narcotic throughout the trip to Baltimore and that their conduct bordered on the mutinous." -- The Traffic In Narcotics By H.J. Anslinger 1953
Oct 1936 chief engineer of a vessel arriving at Baltimore complained to the Federal narcotic officer that the crew of his vessel were using some unknown narcotic. Officers were obliged to protect themselves by carrying black jacks. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
MICHIGAN
Michigan - [Pre-1937]
A fifteen-year-old girl was arrested in a marihuana "den" in Detroit to which she had been lured by her male companions. -- Survey Graphic (Magazine) April 1938
A fifteen-year-old girl who has disappeared is discovered in a marihuana hangout of young toughs in Detroit. -- Narcotic Agent: by Maurice Helbrant (book) 1941
Not long ago a fifteen-year-old girl ran away from her home in Muskegon, Mich., to be arrested later in company with five young men in a Detroit marijuana den. A man and his wife ran the place. -- American Magazine “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth” By H.J Anslinger - July 1937
In Detroit, Michigan, a fifteen-year-old girl was picked up with five men in a marihuana den. 'This pretty and attractive youngster had run away from her home in a near-by small town, where she had first learned to use "Mary Warners" while attending school. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
In Detroit, Michigan, a fifteen-year-old girl was picked up with five men in a marihuana den. This pretty and attractive youngster had run away from her home in a near-by small town, where she had first learned to use "Mary Warners" while attending school. Had I space in these pages to give in detail the incredibly sordid stories describing the experiences of girls who run away from home to co-habit with the most debauched and degraded scum of black, white and yellow humanity, my readers would be shocked beyond measure. -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
A 15-year-old Michigan girl ran away from home and was later arrested in a “marihuana den" in Detroit, where she had been lured by her male companions. -- MARIHUANA; The New Dangerous Drug (pamphlet) by Frederick T. Merrill 1950 version
MICHIGAN - Detroit.- On September 17 1936, 2,500 pounds of marihuana found growing in the backyards of various houses were confiscated under the Michigan State narcotic law. The marihuana was burned on an order from the prosecuting attorney of Flint County.
Michigan - GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. - On September 23, 1937, narcotic and police officers destroyed about 2,000 marihuana plants growing, on a vacant lot. It was alleged that a person whose name was unknown was obtaining the drug from this lot and selling cigarettes, but since the lot was being used as a playground by children of the neighborhood it was deemed advisable to destroy the plants immediately rather than leave them and attempt to apprehend the person responsible for their growth. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1937)
Michigan - 1937 - M and 6 others, M. and F., age 21-23, arrested Detroit, Michigan for rape, theft, grand larceny. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1937 - H. Thatcher / A. Gates - M - And 6 others, M and F, ages 21-23, arrested Detroit, Mich. for rape, theft, grand larceny. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Michigan - 1938, March 18 John Sienkiewicz Detroit In Detroit, a twenty-three-year-old boy was arrested on a robbery charge and possession of a gun. He confessed to a dozen holdups but claimed they were all committed when he was "high" on marihuana, but some he did not remember, the time and place for he was "too high" from smoking marihuana. -- Book 1939 - Enemies Of Youth
John Sienkiewicz, a 23-year-old Detroit, Michigan, lad, was arrested on a charge of robbery, armed. The young man confessed to half a dozen holdups and burglaries, but claimed they were all committed while he was under the influence of marihuana. "I always smoked the weed before I pulled a job because it kept me from being nervous," he said to police investigators. John stated that he could not remember when or where some of his holdups were committed, because he was "too high" from smoking marihuana. He was able to give descriptions of other crimes, committed when he was not under influence of the drug. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
On March 18, 1938, John Sienkiewiscz, a 23-year old Detroit, Michigan, lad, was arrested on a charge of robbery, armed. The young man confessed to half a dozen holdups and burglaries, but claimed they were all committed while he was under the influence of marihuana. "I always smoked the weed before I pulled a job because it kept me from being nervous," he said to police investigators. John stated that he could not remember when or where some of his holdups were committed, because he was "too high" from smoking marihuana. He was able to give descriptions of other crimes, committed when he was not under the influence of the drug. -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
1938, Feb 11 Michigan, Highland Park Another in Michigan. Three boys confessed to a criminal attack on a woman. The elder confessed other attacks, and gave as the reason that he was "high" on marihuana. This is one more proof that sex passion is aroused by marihuana. But more of that in another chapter. -- Book 1939- Enemies Of Youth
Three youths confessed to Highland Park, Michigan, police that they had criminally attacked a 26-year-old girl after forcing her escort from the car in which they were parked. The three lads were 20, 18 and 16 years of age. The elder of the trio confessed, attacks upon two other women whom he forced into an alley at 3 a. m. a few days before his arrest. This lad had been arrested four times previously and had served a prison term for disturbing the peace. He stated that marihuana cigarettes were responsible for his criminal career. His confession of marihuana addiction is one more proof of the fact that sex passion aroused by the use of marihuana is uncontrollable. But it does not erase from the minds of his victims the horror of their experiences, nor rid them of the results of his marihuana madness. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
On Monday, April 4, 1938, three youths confessed to Highland Park, Michigan, police that they had criminally attacked a 26-year-old girl on February 11. after forcing her escort from the car in which they were parked. The three lads were 20, 18 and 16 years of age. The elder of the trio confessed attacks upon two other women whom he forced into an alley at 3 a. m. a few days before his arrest. This lad had been arrested four times previously and had served a prison term for disturbing the peace. He stated that marihuana cigarettes were responsible for his criminal career. His confession of marihuana addiction is one more proof of the fact that sex passion aroused by the use of marihuana is uncontrollable. But it does not erase from the minds of his victims the horror of them experiences, nor rid them of the results of his marihuana madness. -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
Michigan - [Pre-Dec 1938] A college graduate, allegedly crazed by the continued use of marihuana cigarettes, brutally murdered her closest friend by pumping five bullets into her breast. Voluntarily giving herself up, she would offer no reason for her premeditated, cold-blooded act. Psychiatrists sought in vain to pierce her sullen silence by repeated interviews with her in her cell. To a schoolgirl friend she is alleged to have given the clue which science failed to secure. "Leave cigarettes alone, kiddo, and, whatever you do, never, never smoke 'reefers'; see what they have done for me? Nobody will ever know how often I have wanted to kill my Dad. I've got the best Dad in all the world, girlie, but I've had to fight myself for months to keep from killing him." Two days later she committed suicide in her cell! -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
One University girl, in Michigan, under the influence of this dire drug killed her chum, another girl, with a knife and later committed suicide. -- 1938 Marihuana: weed of madness/Killer Weed
In Michigan, a college girl stabbed her dearest friend to death and then killed herself. -- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
Passers-by gasped in horror as a scream drew their attention to the body of a boy hurtling downward from an upstairs window of his home. Those who reached him almost as soon as he crashed upon the ground expected to find a corpse. He was not dead, however. Willing hands tenderly lifted him and an older sister, evidently the only other occupant of the house at the time, took charge of him until the arrival of a physician.
Little hope was held out for his recovery. For months he survived the terrible fall, though so broken in body as to be a helpless invalid. But apparently something more, than his body was affected. Those nearest him noticed a marked change in his demeanor. He seemed possessed of a terrible fear. He dreaded being left alone, even with his sister in the house.
Months after his death that sister, allegedly crazed by the continued use of marihuana cigarettes, brutally murdered her closest friend. It began then to be whispered about that her brother had not fallen from the window by accident but that, in one of her moments of marihuana madness, she had pushed him to his death. "Only that," said the gossips, "could explain his fear of being left alone in the house with her from the time of his 'accident' to the day of his death."
His sister, following the shocking and cold-blooded murder of her friend, would give authorities no reason for her premeditated act. Psychiatrists sought in vain to pierce the problem by repeated interviews with her in her cell. To a schoolgirl friend she is alleged to have given the clue which science failed to secure.
"Leave cigarettes alone, kiddo, and, whatever you do, never, never smoke 'reefers'; see what they have done for me. Nobody will ever know how often I have wanted to kill my Dad. I've got the best Dad in all the world, girlie, but I've had to fight myself for months to keep from killing him." Next day she committed suicide in her cell! -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
Michigan - Pre-Dec 1938[between 1935-1938]
In Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sheriff Blacklock, an ardent crusader against the weed, told us of a boy who, after school hours, drove a truck as a part-time job. One afternoon, while intoxicated with marihuana, he started after a group of his high-school friends, trying to run them down with his truck. They ran frantically for the sidewalks; he followed them, jumping the truck over the curb. As they ran through the gate and up on the porch of a house, he followed just behind and crashed through the fence into the porch, narrowly missing them. -- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
In Grand Rapids, Michigan, I learned of a high school boy who was a truck driver. He smoked marihuana and suddenly had an over-powering urge to kill his high school friends who were then walking on the sidewalk. He ran his truck onto the sidewalk in pursuit of them. They run screaming into nearby stores. The police took the boy to jail. -- Marihuana - The Weed of Madness/Killer Weed (1938) by Earle Rowell
Michigan - [Pre-1939]
In Flint, Michigan, we learned of a farmer who had a tall hedge about his large chicken yard. So may young people were plucking branches from his hedge that it was in a fair way to be destroyed. So he called the police. They were amazed to find that his hedge was worth several times the value of his farm. It was marihuana! The farmer didn't know what it was. He was forced to destroy it all, with a stern admonition not to let it grow again. -- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
Michigan - Pre- Dec 1939
The sheriff in Flint, Michigan, told us of a businessman there who, after smoking marihuana for only three days, thought he was a millionaire. He started passing out five- and ten-dollar bills to everybody on the street. The newsboy on the street got a five-dollar greenback for his three-cent paper; the bootblack, ten dollars for his ten-cent shoeshine; and so on, until, in three days, the man had passed out $2,700 - every cent he had. He had to be committed to the state asylum, for he had become completely deranged by marihuana. -- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
Michigan - In October 1943 in Detroit, Mich., Prison sentence given for claiming use of marihuana to evade military service Gad Sam Holland was sentenced in Federal Court to 5 years' imprisonment on a charge of attempting to evade induction into the Armed Services by smoking marihuana cigarettes to make him physically unfit before appearing for his examination, and by giving false statements that he was addicted to the use of marihuana. - After Holland was rejected by his Selective Service Board because he informed them of his use of marihuana, narcotic agents investigated his case which resulted in the conviction. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1943)
Michigan - Pre-1945 A Michigan publication dealing with juvenile crime printed a story to the effect that two high school football teams had been "pepped up" for their final games by the use of marihuana cigarettes smoked by the members of the teams. It has been impossible to obtain confirmation of this startling statement, though the publication carrying it is considered dependable and authoritative. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
A Michigan publication dealing with juvenile crime printed a story to the effect that two high school football teams had been "Pepped up" for their final games by the use of marihuana cigarettes smoked by the members of the teams. It has been impossible to obtain confirmation of this startling statement, though the publication carrying it is considered dependable and authoritative. -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
Detroit, Mich.-A 19-year-old man was arrested for murdering his 3 month-old daughter. His wife told homicide detectives her husband was a constant marihuana user and had been under its influence when he beat their infant daughter to death using his hands. --- FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Nov 1968
MINNESOTA
Minnesota - 1938---Minnesota - 1938 Winona, Minn. - Male - Smoked marihuana for years; held up 3 taxi-cabs. Sentenced, 10 years -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1938 - E. Guthman, Winona, Minn. - m - Smoked marihuana for years; held up 3 taxi-cabs. Convicted sentenced 10 years. -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Minnesota - In St. Paul, Minn., in February, 1950, a young 16-year-old lad was shot and killed and his father seriously wounded at the hands of a bandit who attempted to rob them. The father was able to identify the bandit, who, when arrested, readily admitted himself to be a marihuana addict. He had smoked a "reefer" just prior to the killing, to bolster his courage for the hold-up. The murderer was "out on parole" from a previous sentence for marihuana addiction! -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
Minnesota - [Pre-1962] a man in Minnesota puts a bullet thru the head of a stranger on the road; ----Chicago Tribune Jan 17, 1962 pg 5 -- “Reefers: A Fast Road Downhill” by Harry J. Anslinger; Will Oursler
MISSISSIPPI
Clarksdale, Miss.; Following the arrest of a man in this town in possession of five and one-half pounds of marihuana prepared for smoking a number of growing marihuana plants were found and destroyed. dating from January, 1935 to march 31, 1936.
MISSOURI
For example, a few years ago the startling discovery was made in St. Louis scores of youngsters of high school age had become victims of the weed. A St. Louis paper at the time quoted one gentleman of the byways as saying, "The worst thing about that loco weed is the way these kids go for them. Most of them, boys and girls, are just punks and when they get high on the stuff you can write your own ticket." ----- The story is told by the same newspaper of a young man who became an addict and had eventually to be confined in an institution for the mentally diseased. In referring to him, one of his friends told an investigating reporter that "he was a swell fellow until marihuana got him. Like the rest of us, he thought the weed wasn't habit-forming and had no idea of the possible consequences of smoking it. He smoked so many he couldn't quit. Finally he went crazy and his folks put him in a sanitarium." Further quotations from the St. Louis paper, which illustrate what occurred among the young people who became victim of this weed through the encouragement of the peddlers, who made claims of the weed's value as a "love potion" and as the means by which they could easily become "the life of the party", follow: Among these is the story of a girl student, still in her teens, who told a reporter she had seen some of her friends under the influence, and named a boy and a girl who had lost their senses so completely after smoking marihuana that they eloped and were married. --- "’Another boy I know, 'this same girl continued,' got the habit so bad he didn't have enough money to buy all the cigarettes he craved. To get the money, he stole jewelry from his mother while under the influence of marihuana and pawned it. He was arrested, but when his mother found out who the thief was she naturally dropped her complaint. I know at least 20 boys, some of them in school, whom I have seen smoking marihuana cigarettes. Sometimes three or -four of them crowd into a telephone booth and puff on a single cigarette. Several girls I know have smoked marihuana and I smoked with them, but I've decided it's bad business and haven't smoked lately. Frequently, several of us would get into a parked automobile belonging to one of the boys and dose all the windows so that none of the smoke would escape." -- INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL DIGEST - Sep, 1937
The Kansas City Star charges that marihuana is being smoked by students in the Kansas City high schools, and in the University of Kansas. -- The Literary Digest (Magazine) Oct 24, 1936
A newspaper in St. Louis reported after an investigation this year that it had discovered marijuana “dens,” all frequented by children of high-school age. The same sort of story came from Missouri, Ohio, Louisiana, Colorado -- American Magazine “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth” By H.J Anslinger - July 1937
For example, a few years ago the startling discovery was made in St. Louis scores of youngsters of high school age had become victims of the weed. A St. Louis paper at the time quoted one gentleman of the byways as saying, "The worst thing about that loco weed is the way these kids go for them. Most of them, boys and girls, are just punks and when they get high on the stuff you can write your own ticket." ----- The story is told by the same newspaper of a young man who became an addict and had eventually to be confined in an institution for the mentally diseased. In referring to him, one of his friends told an investigating reporter that "he was a swell fellow until marihuana got him. Like the rest of us, he thought the weed wasn't habit-forming and had no idea of the possible consequences of smoking it. He smoked so many he couldn't quit. Finally he went crazy and his folks put him in a sanitarium." Further quotations from the St. Louis paper, which illustrate what occurred among the young people who became victim of this weed through the encouragement of the peddlers, who made claims of the weed's value as a "love potion" and as the means by which they could easily become "the life of the party", follow: Among these is the story of a girl student, still in her teens, who told a reporter she had seen some of her friends under the influence, and named a boy and a girl who had lost their senses so completely after smoking marihuana that they eloped and were married. -- INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL DIGEST - Sep, 1937
Nevada - At a Reno party a girl thrust a pistol in the waistband of her slacks and called to another teen-ager: "Go ahead and have a good time. If a cop comes to that door, I'll blast him." -- Fortnight Newsmagazine Aug 20, 1951
NEW JERSEY
[1936] In New Jersey, a similar, but ineffectual excuse was made by a young man sentenced to a long prison term for killing another youth and smashing his head and face to a pulp. -- THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY - June 29, 1938
a young man in New Jersey beats his 'friend's face to a pulp in a marihuana rage; -- Cosmopolitan - May 1938
In New Jersey a murder characterized by exceptional brutality occurred, in which one young man killed another, literally smashing his face and head to a pulp. His attorney's defense was that the young man's intellect was so prostrated from smoking marihuana cigarettes that he did not know what he was doing. The prosecutor was quite convinced that marihuana smoking had been indulged in and that the extreme brutality of the murder was accounted for by the use of the drug, though the intellect of the defendant was held to be not entirely continuously prostrate. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
1936 - M Charged with murder; offered defense he was under influence marihuana at time. -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1936 - A. Ferrell, - Newark, N.J.- M - Charged with murder; offered defense he was under influence marihuana at time. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
In New Jersey a murder characterized by exceptional brutality occurred, in which one young man killed another, literally smashing his face and head to a pulp. His attorney's defense was that the young man's intellect was so prostrated from smoking marihuana cigarettes that he did not know what he was doing. The prosecutor was quite convinced that marihuana smoking had been indulged in and that the extreme brutality of the murder was accounted for by the use of the drug, though the intellect of the defendant was held to be not entirely nor continuously prostrate. -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
In New Jersey a particularly brutal murder occurred, in which case one young man killed another, literally smashing his face and head to a pulp. One of the defenses was that the defendant's intellect was so prostrated from his smoking marihuana cigarettes that he did not know what he was doing. The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to a long term of years. The, prosecutor was convinced that marihuana had been indulged in; that the smoking had occurred; and that the brutality of the murder was accounted for by the narcotic, though the defendant's intellect had not been totally prostrate. -- Murder victim = Thomas Crook. see picture TRAFFIC IN OPIUM AND OTHER DANGEROUS DRUGS-1936
MR. ANSLINGER: I have another letter from the prosecutor at a place in New Jersey.
It is as follows:
The Interstate Commission on Crime
March 18, 1937
Charles Schwarz, Washington, DC
My Dear Mr. Schwarz:
That I fully appreciate the need for action, you may judge from the fact that last January I tried a murder case for several days, of a particularly brutal character in which one colored young man killed another, literally smashing his face and head to a pulp, as the enclosed photograph demonstrates. One of the defenses was that the defendant's intellect was so prostrated from his smoking marihuana cigarettes that he did not know what he was doing. The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to a long term of years. I am convinced that marihuana had been indulged in, that the smoking had occurred, and the brutality of the murder was accounted for by the narcotic, though the defendant's intellect had not been totally prostrate, so the verdict was legally correct. It seems to me that this instance might be of value to you in your campaign.
Sincerely yours,
Richard Hartshorne
Mr. Hartshorne is a member of the Interstate Commission on Crime. We have many cases of this kind. That is one of the worst cases that has come to my attention, and it is to show you its relation to crime that I am putting those two letters in the record. --- Mr. Anslinger 1937 Congressional Testimony
New Jersey - Camden, N.J., January 1968----Three men heldup a toy store in Camden. All three suspects left the store, got into their car and smoked marihuana. They then returned to the store and killed the store attendant with a revolver. -- Congressional Record -- April 4, 1968
Asbury Park, N.J.; Police arrested a man having 100 of the dope cigarettes. He stated he had gathered a number of growing marihuana plants in a field near Tuckerton, N.J. and had had the proprietoress of the boarding house in which he lived dry them in the oven, telling her that cigarettes made from the leaves were good for a head cold. The field of growing marihuana was destroyed. dating from January, 1935 to march 31, 1936.
Atlantic City.--Federal, State, and city detectives had received reports that marihuana cigarettes in varying quantities were being peddled in this vicinity. On Sep. 5, 1936, they watched an informer make contact with Floyd Peters, Atlantic City, and purchase two marihuana cigarettes which the informer turned over to .them. The officers then raided the premises and found Harry Smith, Joseph Morgano, Elizabeth Bailey, and Clarence Henry smoking a Turkish water pipe, the bowl of which was filled with marihuana, John Harper had two marihuana cigarettes on his person and Floyd Peters attempted to conceal a match box containing marihuana cigarettes. The officers continued their search of the premises and found a trunk in which was a bag containing bulk marihuana. There was also discovered a glass tube containing pantopon. One of the officers reported that he had received reports of opium smoking at this address and was pressing his search for Opium when the marihuana and pantopon were found. The defendants were immediately given a hearing in the State court. Elizabeth Bailey, Clarence Henry, Joseph Morgano, and Harry Smith were held on $500 bond. Peters was held without bond and later was sentence to State prison from 4 to 7 years on one count. Peters stated late that he had been addicted to the use of marihuana for more than a year and that he had purchased 2 pounds of the dried marihuana for $35 from a resident of New York City.
Jersey City.-Oct. 14, 1936, pursuant to information received by the police department of Jersey City, N. J., narcotic agents discovered a patch of growing marihuana in Newark extending from a few feet to a city block in width and running a distance of about 1 mile. This patch contained about 65 tons of the marihuana plant, all of which were destroyed.
NEW MEXICO
New Mexico - Feb 10, 1936---A report from New Mexico states that after long and careful investigation the district attorney of Santa Fe, New Mexico, with an, investigator for the New Mexico State Police, seized 15 pounds of dried marihuana. just the day before, a murder had been committed by two men known to be addicted to the use of marihuana. One of these murderers attacked the arresting officers with a gun at the time of arrest. It was afterward found that the perpetrators of these and many other crimes had been securing their marihuana from the one source of supply. Seven arrests resulted from the murder and marihuana cases, and five convictions were obtained. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
A report from New Mexico states that after long and careful investigation the district attorney of Santa Fe, New Mexico, with an investigator for the New Mexico State Police, seized 15 pounds of dried marihuana on February 10, 1936. Just the day before, a murder had been committed by two men known to be addicted to, the use of marihuana. One of these murderers attacked the arresting officers with a gun at the time of arrest. It was afterward found that the perpetrators of these and many other crimes had been securing their marihuana from the one source of supply. Seven arrests resulted from the murder and marihuana cases, and five convictions were obtained. -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
New Mexico The, district attorney of Santa Fe, N. Mex., and an investigator for the New Mexico State police seized 1.5 pounds of dried marihuana on February 10, 1936. On February 9 a murder was committed by two men addicted to the use of marihuana. One of these assaulted the arresting officers with a gain at the time of arrest. From this source of supply represented by the foregoing seizure it was believed that the perpetrators of these crimes secured the illicit marihuana. Seven arrests resulted from the murder and marihuana cases, and five convictions were obtained, the other two being released on bail of $1,500 each. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
From New Mexico comes another case of murder traced directly to marihuana. -- Book 1939- Enemies Of Youth
Santa Fe, N. Mex., an investigator for the New Mexico State police seized 15 pounds of dried marihuana on Feb 10, 1936. addicted shots, etc.
The, district attorney of Santa Fe, N. Mex., and an investigator for the New Mexico State police seized 1.5 pounds of dried marihuana on February 10, 1936. On February 9 a murder was committed by two men addicted to the use of marihuana. One of these assaulted the arresting officers with a gain at the time of arrest. From this source of supply represented by the foregoing seizure it was believed that the perpetrators of these crimes secured the illicit marihuana. Seven arrests resulted from the murder and marihuana cases, and five convictions were obtained, the other two being released on bail of $1,500 each.
NEW YORK
New York: - June 17, 1935, in the backyard of a deserted house in Brooklyn, N. Y., police came across a large growth of Marihuana, and destroyed it. -- Finger Print & Identification Magazine March 1938 pp3
New York: [Pre-1935]
Of the youthful smokers in New York a representative example was afforded by a boy of sixteen, a novice in the Hudson Dusters gang. He said that while smoking reefers he felt happy and light as if he were running or walking on air; but his family on bringing him to a hospital, revealed that for two months he had been apprehensive, scratching his hands nervously, praying constantly, complaining that somebody was reading his thoughts. Psychologists may well suggest that these youths take to marihuana because there is a certain vacuum in their lives which the present-day family and school cannot fill. The same paucity of aims made marihuana popular in the south. -- The American Mercury - Dec 1935
New York City; A large patch of marihuana weed was found growing in the grounds of the Welfare Island Penitentiary, where the plants were rated by prisoners assigned to grounds duty. dating from January, 1935 to march 31, 1936.
Rochester, N.Y.; In a vacant lot on Lake Avenue, a quantity of marihuana sufficient to make 5000 cigarettes was found and destroyed. Three hundred pounds of cut, dried and bundled marihuana weeds was found in the rear on a River Street house, enough to "spike" 15,000 marihuana cigarettes. Another patch was found growing on Hincher Street. dating from January, 1935 to march 31, 1936.
Buffalo The local police destroyed a patch of marihuana approximately twenty by forth feet in size, growing behind a garage. The woman arrested, when arraigned in court the following day, charged with possession of the drug, told the Court she had planted the seed herself. dating from January, 1935 to march 31, 1936.
Barren Island, Brooklyn.-On September 2, 1936, police uprooted a large number of marihuana plants growing on a 5-acre field on which milk goats belonging to squatters in the vicinity were grazing.. The members of the New York narcotic squad in charge of workers from the department of health destroyed the plants which appeared to thrive on the sandy soil. This was said to have been the largest area, of the growing plant ever found in Brooklyn. On the same date there were destroyed by local officers 35 pounds of the dried plant which had been found in a vacant building in Brooklyn.
The New York Daily News says that twenty-three-year-old R D----, socially prominent, arrested on a Harlem corner acquired the marihuana habit at Amherst College. -- The Literary Digest (Magazine) Oct 24, 1936
New York: [Pre-1938]
MR. SMITH: We did have in White Plains [New York] this additional situation: The fact appeared there that with children of high school age with good financial and social background, that two of those individuals, who were in difficulties there, stated that the smoking of reefers had become a part of the initiation in certain clubs or school fraternities. That probably is a little bit unusual, as an incident, but that has been definitely reported in that vicinity.
COMMISSIONER ANSLINGER: Did you not arrest a youngster sixteen years old for selling?
Mr.. SMITH: Yes, sir. There were two youngsters of excellent background, and fine social connections. That was probably a larger factor, as compared to anything else, I think, and that was that they probably had too much financial and social backing. That may be more true in that particular county than in other counties in that State. -- Marihuana Conference -Held Dec. 5, 1938
1938 NEW YORK, N. Y. Among important cases developed during the year concerning interstate distribution was that against one Jose Samaniego and others. The principals were residents of New York City. They learned that large supplies of marihuana were available in southern Minnesota and sent to that territory. Marihuana prepared for smoking was subsequently shipped from Minnesota to New York and to Chicago, ILL., where it was distributed in the illicit traffic. Records obtained in the investigation indicated that approximately 294 kg. 835 gm. of marihuana prepared for smoking had been distributed in New York by this organization. As a result of the investigation, two persons were convicted in Minnesota, two in Chicago, and six were convicted at New York City.
New York - [Pre-1946]
And that other little school-girl, in a city of our Empire State. Brilliant student; graduated from Junior High at 13. I took the broken-hearted mother of that child to the County Jail where, at 14, she was behind prison bars for a sex-crime. "Sweet, lovable, disposition, until she got Marijuana and it 'got' her and changed her whole nature," so two High School teachers who had known her from babyhood told me. But before they took her to prison she attempted to set fire to their home and tried to kill her mother with a kitchen-knife. Sex-criminal, pyromaniac and would be murderess at 14! And Marijuana did it. -- War With the Underworld 1946
New York - [Pre-1946] A policeman in my audience at Silver Creek, N. Y., told me: "I am in close touch with the Narcotic Squad of the Buffalo police force, and I know that, with the exception of a few adults, the entire traffic in Marijuana there is among Grade and High School children." -- War With the Underworld 1946
New York: - [Pre-1946] Late last Summer a member of the official board of a church in Hornell, N. Y., told me, in the presence of his pastor and others: "Just recently a stranger in town gave my boy a cigarette. He only smoked half of it But he told me, 'Dad, that half cigarette made me as crazy as a loon. I tried to fight the man who gave it to me, and another man standing by. They had to hold me by main strength to keep me from assaulting both of them! . . . Had that Homell boy had access to an axe, butcher-knife---anything to kill with---there probably would have been a bloody murder in Hornell. -- War With the Underworld 1946
New York: 1953 - M Negro, shot and killed while attempting holdup grocer in Harlem; plea guilty. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1953 - A. Callaway - M - Negro, shot and killed while attempting holdup grocer in Harlem; plea guilty. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
New York - [Pre-1946] A former pastor at Endicott, N. Y., now pastor at Eden, Erie County, tells me of an attempt on his life, at Endicott, by a friend, wielding a big knife while under the influence of this "killer-weed." -- War With the Underworld 1946
New York: Asbury Park, N.J., May, 1965----Two men boxed playfully together in the street. One participant was knocked to the ground. He came to his feet with a knife in his hand. His opponent started to retreat. The angered man chased and caught his companion. He slashed the frightened man's throat and, in a frenzied state, repeatedly stabbed the helpless man. The murderer then calmly folded his knife and walked away. He is still a fugitive. Just prior to the Incident, the two men had smoked marihuana together. -- Congressional Record -- April 4, 1968
New York: - Roosevelt, N.Y., March 9, 1966----While smoking marihuana at home a man became violent. He brutally assaulted his wife and terrorized his two children, continuing to smoke marihuana throughout the Incident. -- Congressional Record -- April 4, 1968
New York: This was the craziest business you ever saw. Every one of these so-called marijuana insanity defenses were successful. The one in New York was just outlandish. Two police officers were shot and killed in cold blood. The defendant puts on the marijuana insanity defense and, in that case, there was never even any testimony that the defendant had even used marijuana. The testimony in the New York case was that, from the time the bag of marijuana came into his room it gave off "homicidal vibrations", so he started killing dogs, cats, and ultimately two police officers. -- A Speech to the California Judges Association 1995 annual conference by Charles Whitebread
OHIO
OHIO - Dec 1936 - Feb 1937
A gang of seven young lads, all under twenty years of age, had terrorized central Ohio for more than two months. During that time they carried out 38 "stick-ups." Finally arrested in Columbus, Ohio, they confessed that they operated while "high" on marlhuana.
Listen to the testimony of one of these boys, the youngest lad in the group:
"Me? Sure I smoke 'reefers'. All us guys do. I been usin' 'em maybe two-three years. A guy has t 0 have somethin' like that ta be good at this game. Th' rest o' th' guys in th' gang call me 'Th' Kid,' see, 'cause I'm the youngest in the bunch. But they ain't got nothin' on me, see? Maybe I ain't as tough yet as some o' them. So what? I just smokes me a coupla reefers' before we pull a job and boy, am I rarin' to go? And how! Listen copper, I ain't pullin' no fast one when I tell ya I could tear any guy apart and get a kick outta doin' it when I'm high on reefers. Did I lay down on any o' them 38 stick-ups? Not me! Say, that ain't a bad record fer kids, is it? 38 stickups in a coupla months! Chee, did some of them guys get scared when we told 'em to 'stick 'em up'! Boy, if they'd a known we wuz high on reefers they'd a-been scareder than they wuz.
"Sure the other guys in the gang smoked 'em, too. They been loadin' up on 'muggles' for about four-five years. It was them brung me in on the racket. Lissen ---I ain't squawkin' on the gang. I ain't no squealer. Us guys stick together, get me? Boy, was it funny to see them gas station guys and th' others reach for the sky when we hollered at 'em: 'This is a stick-up'! Good thing for them mugs to reach high plenty quick, too, told ya, a guy ain't really 'sponsible when he’s loaded himself with a coupla reefers. Like I said, I anin’t a tough guy, usual-like, but chee, if any of them mugs we ntuck up tried to pull anythin’ when we wuz high on Mary Warners, we’d sure have give ‘em the works.
“0h, yeh, ya wanta know about the gang. I ain't squealin', get me? But ya ast me about them startin' ta smoke. Well, they told me they got started in high school, same as I did. Ya can always get 'reefers,' or mebbe 'tea' from some of the 'peds' around school if ya know what to ast for. Them 'peds' make big dough, b'lieve me. The tough part comes when a guy, lets hisself get low on reefers and then has to go out an' pull a job without 'em so as ta get dough to buy some more, if ya know what I mean. A guy has ta watch hisself, too, 'cause if ya gets too 'high' on. muggles before ya pulls a stick-up ya could do somethin' without knowin' it.
Honest, sarge, a guy could kill some mug and never know it. Look at that gas station guy, there, f'r'nstance. Him tellin' ya that I tried to bust his brains out with the butt of my gat. Says I told him I would. Maybe I did, at that, but chee! I sure don't remember nothin' about it. Reefers is like that, though, if ya get too, high on 'em. A guy has to be careful. "Ya, ast me why we don't quit smokin' them reefers? Say Mister. ya never smoked 'em, didja? Well, let me tell ya somethin'! Ya just can't quit, that's all. When ya try to quit ya gets jumpy, if ya know what I mean. And how? Boy, yer hands starts ta shake all the time, and ya hear the least little noise. Try it some time, Mister. I'm tellin' ya, when ya begins ta get low in reefers ya get an awful dopey feelin' like ya was sinkin'. Gee, ya gets just gotta get some more, quick, or ya gets mopey and yer folks notice ya ain’t just right, and a guy just has to pull himself outta it by startin’ in again. Ya gets so ya smoke a ‘stick’ a day, and ya can't stop. I know, sarge, 'cause I've tried ta snap out of it, but it ain't no use once ya get started.
"Ya ast me about them 'peds' sarge, but honest, I can't tell ya nothin' nohow. Them guys is tough, Mister. They told us they'd bump us off if we squealed. They give us the names of some kids they bumped off for squealin'. I ain't hankerin' for no tortures like they tell us they'll do. No sir, not me!"
And so the marihuana menace marches on! -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
The following cases taken from the files of the United States Bureau of Narcotics illustrate the disastrous effect upon many of its users: --- A gang of seven young men, all under 20 years of age, were arrested in Columbus, Ohio, on robbery charges. They confessed that they operated while "high" on marihuana. --- One of the youths admitted that he had smoked "reefers" on and off for at least two years, and said that when he went with the others on stick-ups he was "ready to tear anybody apart" who opposed him. He claimed the practice of smoking marihuana first started among his friends about four or five years previously, while most of them were still in high school. In describing his crime he said: "If I had killed somebody on a job, I'd never have known it." This was verified by the officer obtaining the confessions, who explained that the hardest problem was to get these youths to remember who committed the stick-ups, or when or where they happened. -- National Parent-Teacher (PTA) - May, 1938
In Ohio, a gang of seven youngsters who learned to smoke reefers in high school terrorized a town by making 'thirty-eight holdups. Because they were drugged at the time, they had trouble in recalling their crimes. “If I had killed somebody on a job,” said one, "I'd never have known it." -- The CHRISTIAN CENTURY - June 29, 1938
A gang of seven young lads, all under twenty years of age, had terrorized central Ohio for more than two months. During that time they carried out 38 "stick-ups." Finally arrested in Columbus, Ohio, they confessed that they operated while "high" on marihuana. Police officers who checked upon the stories of this youthful gang found them to be correct. They testified that the hardest problem was to get the youngsters to remember, which one of them committed the stick-ups, or where they took place. Even when they could remember the robberies they could not recall the details, or what they said or did, though they seemed to be able to remember and gloat over the reaction of fear in the faces of their victims. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
In Ohio a gang of seven young men, all less than twenty years old, had been caught after a series of 38 holdups. An officer asked them where they got their incentive.
“We only work when we’re high on ‘tea,’” one explained. “On what?” “On tea. Oh, there are lots of names for it. Some people call it ‘mu’ or ‘muggles’ or ‘Mary Weaver’ or ‘moocah’ or ‘weed’ or ‘reefers’ - there’s a million names for it.” “All of which mean marijuana?” “Sure. Us kids got on to it in high school three or four years ago; there must have been twenty-five or thirty of us who started smoking it. -- “But after you get the habit,” the boy added, “you don’t bother much about finding a place to smoke. I’ve seen as many as three or four high-school kids jam into a telephone booth and take a few drags.” The officer questioned him about the gang’s crimes: “Remember that filling-station attendant you robbed - how you threatened to beat his brains out?” - The youth thought hard. “I’ve got a sort of hazy recollection,” he answered. “I’m not trying to say I wasn’t there, you understand. The trouble is, with all my gang, we can’t remember exactly what we’ve done or said. When you get to ‘floating,’ it’s hard to keep track of things.” From the other youthful members of the gang the officer could get little information. They confessed the robberies as one would vaguely remember bad dreams. “If I had killed somebody on one of those jobs, I’d never have known it,” explained one youth. “Sometimes it was over before I realized that I’d even been out of my room. -- American Magazine “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth” By H.J Anslinger - July 1937
Ohio - A gang of seven young men, all under 20 years of age, who for more than 2 months terrorized central Ohio with a series of about 38 stick-ups, were arrested in Columbus, Ohio, on robbery charges. They confessed that they operated while "high" on marihuana. One of the youths admitted that he had smoked "reefers" on and off for at least 2 years, and said that when he went with the others on stick-ups he was "ready to tear anybody apart" who opposed him. He claimed the practice of smoking marihuana first started among his friends about 4 or 5 years previously, while most of them were still in high school. In describing his crimes he said: "If I had killed somebody on a job, I'd never have known it." This was verified by the officer obtaining the confessions, who explained that the hardest problem was to get these youths to remember who committed the stick-ups, or when or where they, happened. When police told them how a filling-station attendant reported a robber threatened to beat his brains out with a revolved butt, one admitted he was the robber, but had forgotten his own words. It was almost impossible for them to break off the habit when they could still get "tea" so easily, they claimed. "When you try to break off you get jumpy, your hands shake, and you hear the least little noise. A dopey feeling comes when you're going down, and you get money. You get so you smoke a 'stick' a day, and you can't stop. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936)
A gang of seven young men, all under 20 years of age, who for more than two months terrorized central Ohio with a series of about thirty-eight stick-ups, were arrested in March 1937 in Columbus, Ohio, on robbery charges. They confessed that they operated while “high” on Marihuana. (sic some info)
A gang of boys, all under twenty, carried out thirty-eight "stickups." They operated while "high" on marihuana. -- Book 1939- Enemies Of Youth
In Ohio, a gang of seven youths under twenty recently perpetrated thirty-eight stick-ups while operating "high" on marijuana. -- FORUM AND CENTURY - Jan. 1939
Seven youths, all under 20 and all under influence of marijuana, terrorized area with 38 stickups in two months before capture. -- The Truth about Marijuana - STEPPING STONE to DESTRUCTION June 1967
In Ohio, a gang of seven young men, all less than 20 years old, had been caught after a series of 38 holdups. An officer asked them where they got their incentive.
"We only work when we're high on 'tea,' " one explained. "On what?"
"On tea. Oh, there are lots of names for it. Some people call it ‘mu’ or smuggles' or 'Mary Weavers' or 'moocah' or 'weed' or 'reefers' there's a million names for it." "All of which mean marihuana?" "Sure. Us kids got on to it in high school three or four years ago; there must have been 25 or 30 of us who started smoking it. The stuff was cheaper then; you could buy a whole tobacco tin of it for 50 cents. Now these peddlers will charge you all they can get, depending on how shaky you are. Usually though, it's two cigarettes for a quarter." -- INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL DIGEST - Sep, 1937
COLUMBUS, 0hio. 1936. A gang of seven young men, all under 20 years of age, who for more than 2 months terrorized central Ohio with a series of about 38 stick-ups, were arrested in Columbus, Ohio, on robbery charges. They confessed that they operated while "high" on marihuana. One admitted that he had smoked "reefers" for at least 2 years, and said that when he went with the others on stick-ups he was "ready to tear anybody apart" who opposed him. In describing his crimes he said: "If I had killed somebody on a job, I'd never have known it." This was verified by the officer obtaining the confessions, who explained that the hardest problem was to get these youths to remember who committed the stick-ups, or when or where they happened. When police told them how a filling-station attendant reported a robber threatened to beat his brains out with a revolver butt, one admitted he was the robber, but had forgotten his own words. It was almost impossible for them to break off the habit when they could get "tea," they claimed. "When you try to break off your hands shake, and you get jumpy, you hear the least little noise. A dopey feeling comes when you're going down, and you get money. You get so you smoke a 'stick' a day, and you can't stop." -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1936) (mention is made of the tax of the Oct. 1, 1937.)
1937 - M. 7 men, all under 20, terrorized and robbed Central Ohio area. 38 stickups in 2 months while under influence marihuana -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1937 - M - 7 men, all under 20, terrorized and robbed Arrested Central Ohio area, 38 stickups in 2 months while under influence marihuana. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Mr. Anslinger: Here is a gang of seven young men, all seven of them, young men under 21 years of age. They terrorized central Ohio for more than two months, and they were responsible for 38 stick-ups. They all boast they did those crimes while under the influence of marihuana.
Mr. Lewis: Was that as an excuse, or a defense?
Mr. Anslinger: No, sir. I think it makes them irresponsible. A man does not know what he is doing. It has not been recognized as a defense by the courts, although it has been used as a defense. As to these young men I was telling you about, one of them said if he had killed somebody on the spot he would not have known it. -- Harry Anslinger 1937 Congressional Testimony
Recently, in Ohio, there was a gang of very young men, all under 20 years of age, every one of whom had confessed that they had committed some 38 holdups while under the influence of the drug.. . . . That was demonstrated by these seven boys, who said they did not know what they were doing after they smoked marihuana. They conceived the series of crimes while in a state of marihuana intoxication. -- Mr. Anslinger 1937 Congressional Testimony
[MUSEUM NOTE:] Looking over WPA Newspaper Indexes for that era shows only One gas-station robbery was reported during that time period. This article reads as follows:
Ohio State Journal [Newspaper]Article -- Norbert Muscalski, filling station held up [Feb 22, 1937 pg 11 column 1]
“Robbers obtained $10 from Norbert Muscalski 1246 Seventeenth Ave, Attendant of the filling station at 1640 Cleveland Ave. he told police.“ --- No other info was given.
OHIO - April 1937. Henry Barnes, on the witness stand for first degree murder, testified that before he and a companion killed a man in a holdup, the pair had smoked three marihuana cigarettes each, and therefore did not know what they were doing. They were both sentenced to life imprisonment. -- MARIHUANA; The New Dangerous Drug (pamphlet) by Frederick T. Merrill 1950 version
1937 - H. Barnes, - Ohio - M - First degree murder, blamed on smoking marihuana. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
OHIO - 1937 Cleveland, Ohio - M With R. B. robbery and assault; guilty .Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1937 - D. Welty, - Cleveland, Ohio - M - With R. Blaney, robbery and assault; guilty. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
OHIO - [Pre-1940] When a young lad cruelly and criminally attacks a four-year-old girlie who has all her life been entrusted to his care, and then buries her little body in a shallow pit in the cellar of his home, there's something behind it. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
These are not pleasant thoughts. Neither is it a pleasant thought that just recently a fourteen-year-old boy in Ohio murdered a six-year-old girl after a criminal attack, and explained his act by saying that a man had induced him to "try" a dope cigarette---a "reefer," made from the leaves and flowering tops of a marihuana plant. This little lad didn't have a glimmer of what that reefer was going to do to him. Argue if you will that he was a defective, but he never got into that trouble until he smoked a reefer. -- American Weekly - S.F. Examiner - July 28, 1940
OHIO - 1949 Cleveland, Ohio - M Negro, long criminal record Kentucky, narcotics and manslaughter, murdered barracks mate J. MacElroth at marihuana-cocaine party. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1949 - C. Callaway, - Cleveland, Ohio - M - Negro, long criminal record Ky., narcotics and manslaughter; murdered J. MacElroth at marihuana-cocaine party (barrack mate). -- Arrested - 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
1950 - M Robbed A. Litz in Weinberg Bakery of $5; resisted arrest; possession marihuana. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1950 - A. Edmonson - M - Robbed A. Litz in Weinberg Bakery of $5; resisted arrest; possession marihuana. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Investigating a disturbance in a cafe in a southern Ohio city, police officers saw Anthony E. pointing a loaded revolver at patrons. E. resisted arrest, and after a severe struggle the officers subdued him. Earlier, E., with the use of his revolver, had robbed Abe L., driver for the W. Bakery Co., of $5.00. At the time of the arrest, the defendant was completely under the influence of marihuana and a quantity of marihuana was found in his possession. -- The Traffic In Narcotics By H.J. Anslinger and William F. Tompkins 1953
On the night of March 9, 1950, police officers at Cincinnati, Ohio, were dispatched to a cafe to investigate a disturbance. upon arrival the officers found Anthony Edmonson pointing a loaded revolver at patrons in the cafe. Edmonson resisted arrest and after a severe struggle was subdued by the officers. In Edmonson’s possession was found almost 2 pounds of marihuana. It was learned later that Edmonson had, earlier that same evening, robbed the driver of a bakery truck at the point of his gun. The marihuana evidence was turned over to a Federal narcotic agent who was unable to interview Edmonson for a period of 24 hours because he was absolutely incoherent from the influence of marihuana. Edmonson pleaded guilty to violation of the Federal marihuana law and on November 20, 1950, was sentenced to a term of 1 year and 1 day in the Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland, Ky. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1950)
OHIO - 1957 Cincinnati, Ohio - M 28 Negro waiter, with C. J. 30; S. R. and G. G. all smoked marihuana cigarettes over 2 years; 5 counts armed robbery Cincinnati grocery stores. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1957 - R. Lewis, - Cincinnati, Ohio - M - 28 - Negro waiter, with C. Jones, 30; S. Raymo and G. Gauze, all smoked marihuana cigarettes over 2 years; 5 counts armed robbery Cincinnati grocery stores. -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
OHIO - Canton, Ohio, Dec. 18, 1963---Canton police arrested six male subjects involved in armed robberies of private homes and 30 breaking and enterings of business places. Investigation showed that three of the culprits Used marihuana before committing these crimes. -- Congressional Record -- April 4, 1968
OHIO - Covington, Ohio, May 1, 1967----An Armed bandit robbed a pharmacy of its narcotic drug stock. Without further reason he killed the pharmacist and clerk. The murderer was known to always fortify himself with marihuana prior to committing a robbery. -- Congressional Record -- April 4, 1968
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma - 1937 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - M Smoked marihuana 12 years. Arrested for raping his 13-year old daughter. Previous criminal record-assault with knife; sale marihuana; assault with knife; vagrancy. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1937 - R. Lozano, - Oklahoma City, Okla.- Smoked marihuana 12 years. Arrested for raping his 13-yr. old daughter. Previous criminal record assault with knife; sale marihuana; assault with knife; vagrancy. - Hung -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Attacked own daughter, 13, after smoking reefers. -- The Truth about Marijuana - STEPPING STONE to DESTRUCTION June 1967
OREGON
Oregon - 1960 Portland Oregon, M 19 - Raped 16-year old high school girl; beat, broke jaw, knocked out upper teeth, in wooded area after beatnick party. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1960 - V. Mullen, - Portland, Ore. - M - 19 - Raped 16-yr. high school girl; beat, broke jaw, knocked out upper teeth, in wooded area after beatnick party. -- Arrested - 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania - [1936] "Early this year the Pennsylvania State Bureau of Narcotics arrested a peddler reported to be supplying marihuana cigarettes to boys attached to a CCC camp in Lebanon county. -- Oakland Tribune (Newspaper) Oct. 11, 1936 “Don't be a MuggleHead”
Pennsylvania - 1936 Pittsburgh M Robbery and possession marihuana. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1936 - P. Samorro, - Pittsburg - M - Robbery and possession marihuana. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Pennsylvania - 1936 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - M Arrested for driving auto in reckless fashion; also possession marihuana. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1936 - T. Goodwin - Philadelphia, Pa. - M - Arrested for driving auto in reckless fashion; also possession marihuana. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
COATESVILLEI, PA. -- 1937 Acting on information that Joe Gracia was selling marihuana in Coatesville, Pa., narcotic officers assisted by local officers made purchases from him totalling approximately 2 pounds, then arrested Gracia and seized from the basement of his home one large trunk containing 487 ounces of marihuana and one small wooden drum containing 328 ounces of marihuana. Gracia was tried, convicted, and sentenced to serve 3 years in a Federal penitentiary. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1937)
PHILADELPHIA, PA. - On Oct. 22 and 23, 1937, two plots of marihuana were found in the heart of the city of Philadelphia. The marihuana---about 3,000 plants on one plot and 3,500 plants on the other---was cut and burned by Federal and State officers.
TENNESSEE
TENNESSEE - [Pre-1939] In one state where there was no law governing marihuana, an ordinance to control it had been drawn for adoption by the city council of the second largest city in the state. The reason for the ordinance lay in a near tragedy. A high-school boy had smoked marihuana, and then gone berserk. He wanted to kill someone - anyone would do. As he had no gun or knife handy, he stole an automobile and ran it hilariously and recklessly about the city, trying to run over someone and kill him. He did eventually run down an old man, broke his legs, and was careening down the streets in search of another victim when he was finally arrested by the police. In jail, he said he did not know what he had been doing, except that he was filled with an uncontrollable desire to commit murder. He pleaded with the public to do something to prevent other youth from getting reefers, and, through a newspaper interview, he appealed to the youth never to smoke them. The proposed city ordinance was the result of this incident. We were asked to appear before the city council in favor of the bill. What amazed us was the callous indifference of the council to the whole matter. The bill was defeated by three arguments: first, the chief of police stated there was no marihuana problem! Second, it was the state's business anyway; and, as there was no state law on the matter, why should the city pass one? Third, a state official said it was not a state matter but a Federal; and, as Uncle Sam had no law on it, why should the state bother! -- On the trial of Marihuana the Weed of Madness 1939
Nashville, TN -- pre-1939 A young Boy in Nashville, after smoking a few of these cigarettes, developed an urge to kill just for the sake of killing. He jumped into the first automobile he could find and started down the street to run people down. He went viciously after anyone in night, and succeeded in running over an old man, braking both his legs, before the police could stop him. -- Marihuana: the Weed of Madness, the killer weed 1938
TEXAS
1921 Houston Texas T. Bernhardt Male 30 Beat to death with a rock T. Bernhardt, boy, 14, while herding cattle in pasture; accused boy of polluting his water supply. Boy's head crushed, one eye gouged out, and missing. Arrested several hours later, he screamed and tore jail furnishings. Smoking marihuana at time; claimed insane; found to be sane. Hanged -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1921 - C. Apoliner, - Houston, Tex. - M - 30 - Beat to death with a rock T. Bernhardt, boy, 14, while herding cattle in pasture; accused boy of polluting his water supply. Boy's head crushed, one eye gouged out, and missing. Arrested, several hours later he screamed and tore jail furnishings. Smoking marihuana at time; claimed insane; found to be sane. - Guilty, hung. -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
[Museum Note: There are no records of C. Apoliner being executed in Texas during this time ]
In San Antonio, Texas, in August 1936, two young women were jailed after a raid which disclosed on their promises 12 MARIHUANA cigarettes and a gallon jug of prepared MARIHUANA, and a kit of instruments for narcotic injections. During the raid the officer was bitten on the face and hands by one of the women. -- The Union Signal (WCTU) Jan. 30, 1937
1936 - San Antonio, Texas - F - Two young women arrested for possession marihuana violently attacked Officer C. Cullen. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
1936 - San Antonio, Texas - Female Two young women arrested for possession marihuana violently attacked Officer C. Cullen. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
Texas - 1937 - Corpus Christi Texas - M - Raped his 7-year old daughter. - Death -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1937 - E. Kimball, - Corpus Christi, Texas - Raped his 7-yr. old daughter. - Death -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
COMMISSIONER ANSLINGER: . . there is another case down in Corpus Christi that we have been able to establish, where an oil worker with a good reputation, obtained and smoked a cigarette, after which he raped his young daughter. -- Marihuana Conference -Held Dec. 5, 1938
Corpus Christi - An oil worker, of good character smoked a cigarette, raped his six-year old daughter. When his wife returned home in the evening, she found him lying across the bed in a stupor and the little child torn and bleeding. He couldn’t remember. Was sentenced to death.
DR. MATCHETT One of the Internal Revenue officials, formerly in Texas, has told us that down there persons use alcohol and Marihuana together, and where they were very wild it took four or five officers to bring a man in. He attributed that to the combined effect rather than the effect of either one.
MR. SMITH: Still, there is a good deal of fancy on the part of some officers, whose experience with Marihuana is new. I have had some experience with one or two sheriffs. I know of one who recently employed the services of two other sheriffs and four deputy sheriffs to secure the arrest of a farmer on a farm where the material was growing. Any youngster, 18 or 19 years old, could have gone there and done it alone. This was because of the first experience of those officers with it. I think the men were anxious to capitalize on the possible publicity which might attend the arrest. So that sometimes you run up against that problem, where they report that it is necessary for a number of them to subdue an individual. That may be an effort to make it appear a more serious type of crime. So that I think we have to put our tongues in our cheeks as to this, also. ---Marihuana Conference -Held Dec. 5, 1938
Texas - Two boys in Houston, Texas, were high school buddies. They smoked reefers and one began to fancy that the other was going to kill him. He took a knife to school one day and killed his best friend. -- True Story (Magazine) Dec. 1948
In his other booklet, "Battling The Wolves of Society" (1929) Mr. Rowell reports: "Just before I stepped on the platform to speak before a High School group in Houston, Texas, the principal drew me aside and told me how one of the boys from his own school had recently killed another boy. These two boys had grown up together, and were the best of friends: 'David and Jonathan' pals. On their way to school this boy smoked one or two Marijuana cigarettes. Suddenly to his befuddled brain, his best friend became to him his worst enemy, secretly trying to kill him. In order to kill him first be pulled his jack knife and plunged it into his pal's back, the blade going to his heart. -- War With the Underworld 1946 (Sic some info)
Prior to stepping onto the platform to speak before a high-school assembly in Houston, Texas, the principal told me a story concerning two boys, both students of his high school, who were on the way to school on a recent morning. The boys had been constant friends from childhood. One boy had smoked a reefer that morning, and, as he walked to school, suddenly he became convinced that his friend was really his enemy, clandestinely looking for an opportunity to kill him. So real and so urgent was this imagined threat that he decided the only thing to do was to kill the boy by his side. Drawing a jackknife from his pocket, he stabbed his pal in the back, killing him. To the students of that high school the effects of marihuana were real and tangible -- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
Texas - 1939 ---On Nov. 9, 1939, customs inspectors at El Paso, Tex., searched the person of R. A. Redmond, American, when he entered the United States from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, seizing several marihuana cigarettes. Redmond recovered 1 cigarettes and swallowed them, together with the paper covering. The inspectors regained one cigarette, but not until they had been attacked by Redmond. Redmond stated he had been smoking marihuana for approximately 8 months. The circumstances illustrate the effect that the marihuana had upon him, as it is reported that he possessed almost superhuman strength, it requiring the combined efforts of two officers to subdue him. Redmond is being held for prosecution. Mexican authorities were informed of this seizure. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1939)
Texas - On July 13, 1941, one Apodaca, allegedly under the influence of marihuana and while drinking at the bar of a cafe in El Paso, Tex., suddenly went berserk, took a knife from his pocket and started cutting the man standing next to him. This man seized the knife while his assailant attempted to cut two other persons. Apodaca was in possession of two marihuana cigarettes at the time he committed these crimes. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced on October 24, 1941, to serve 4 months in a correctional institution, and sentence was suspended for 1 year. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1941)
Texas - 1944 Houston, Texas - Female - Slashed Miss M. Jolly, 18, in quarrel - over sales and boys; 3 girls and 6 boys in gang smoked marihuana to get "hopped up" before committing various crimes. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1944 - Black Ora, Houston, Texas - Slashed Miss M. Jolly, 18, in quarrel over sales and boys; 3 girls and 6 boys in gang smoked marihuana to get "hopped up" before committing various crimes. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Texas -1964 Houston, Texas - M 45 Negro shot and killed E. Sampson, Negro, in argument over dice game. Both were marihuana users -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1964 - R. Boscier, - Houston, Texas - M - 45 - Negro shot and killed E. Sampson, negro, In argument over dice game. Both were marihuana users. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Database: TX Death - http://vitals.rootsweb.com/tx/death/search.cgi Last Name Sampson First Name Earnest Date 02-13-1964 County HARRIS Sex M Marriage Status SINGLE
Texas -1964 Houston, Texas - M Negro, stabbed negro A. Grimes, 30, to death; motive unknown; marihuana used. -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1964 - R. Eaton, Houston, Texas - M - Negro stabbed negro, A. Grimes, 30, to death; motive unknown; marihuana used. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Database: TX Death - http://vitals.rootsweb.com/tx/death/search.cgi Last Name Grimes First Name Arch Date 3-27-1964 County PALO PINTO Sex M Marriage Status WIDOWED
Texas -1964 Houston, Texas - M Stabbed and killed J. Ward, 24, in bar room fight; was marihuana user. -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1964 - M. McFatter, - Houston, Texas - Stabbed and killed J. Ward, 24, in barroom fight; McFatter was marihuana user. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Texas - San Antonio, Tex., Nov 13, 1966---After smoking marihuana for several hours, two defendants decided to settle an argument with a mutual acquaintance. They pistol whipped, beat, stabbed, and finally shot and killed the other man. Police later learned the two murderers smoke marihuana until they became "vicious" then immediately went to "beat" the victim. -- Congressional Record -- April 4, 1968
San Antonio, Tex.-After smoking marihuana for several hours, two defendants decided to settle an argument with a mutual acquaintance. They pistol whipped, beat, stabbed, and finally shot and killed the other man. Police later learned the two murderers smoked marihuana until they became "vicious" and then, immediately, went to "beat" the man. -- FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Nov 1968
UTAH
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
WASHINGTON
Seattle.-Charles Banks was arrested on August 30, 1936, by narcotic officers and local detectives on charges of violation of the State narcotic law after selling 6 ounces of marihuana to an informer. This defendant claimed that he had been buying regularly from a man whose name or address he was unable to furnish the police. He was arraigned on September 23, 1936, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced on the same day to 10 years in the penitentiary.
Washington - [pre-1941] A seventeen-year-old boy in Seattle attempts a stickup. (I know myself about this case; the boy was not at all a tough youngster.) -- Narcotic Agent: by Maurice Helbrant (book) 1941
Washington - 1945 -- Marihuana Found in Death Car - Thirty-four grains of marihuana were found in an automobile driven by John B. Payne, 19, when it collided with another car in northeast Washington on Sept. 23, 1945, resulting in the death of one woman and the injury of eight other persons. Evidence was presented to the coroner's jury that Payne had been associated with known marihuana traffickers and users. Under cross examination he admitted telling doctors at an Army induction examination that he had used as many as three marihuana cigarettes a day. Payne and the driver of the other car were fined $250 after pleading guilty in municipal court to charges of reckless driving. -- The Traffic in Opium and Other Dangers Drugs (1945)
Washington -1960 Seattle, Washington - M Negro killed wife, then committed suicide. 76 more marihuana cigarettes found in his service station. Suicide -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1960 - L. Jones, - Seattle, Wash. - M - Negro killed wife, then committed sucide. 76 more marihuana cigarettes found in his service station. - Suicide -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Killed wife, then committed suicide after marijuana spree. -- The Truth about Marijuana - STEPPING STONE to DESTRUCTION June 1967
Washington - Seattle, Wash., July 8, 1967---At a fair grounds a man accidentally bumped into another, spilling coffee on him. The individual who was bumped began swearing and took a log chain with which he proceeded to beat the startled victim. When arrested for assault, officers found the suspect to be in possession of and under the influence of marihuana. -- Congressional Record - April 4, 1968
Seattle, Wash.-A man accidentally bumped into and spilled coffee on another at the old World's Fair grounds. The jostled person began swearing at the man who had bumped into him. He pulled out a piece of log chain and began to beat the man. Officers found the suspect in possession of and under the influence of marihuana when he was arrested for assault. -- FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Nov 1968
WEST VIRGINIA
WEST VIRGINIA - 1937---WEST VIRGINIA---Lewis Harris, twenty-six, arrested for rape of a nine-year-old girl while under the influence of marihuana. -- Survey Graphic (Magazine) April 1938
1937 Clarksburg, West Virginia - M 26 Negro arrested charge raping 9-year old girl. True bill by Grand Jury. - CLARKSBURG W. VA. October 1937. Lewis Harris, 26 years of age, at arrested for rape of 9-year-old girl while under the influence of marihuana. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1937 - L. Harris, - Clarksburg, W Va. - 26 - Negro arrested charge raping 9-yr. girl. True bill by grand jury. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
CLARKSBURG W. VA. October 1937 Lewis Harris, 26 years of age, at arrested for rape of 9-year-old girl while under the influence of marihuana. -- MARIHUANA; The New Dangerous Drug (pamphlet) by Frederick T. Merrill 1950 version
In West Virginia, a young man was arrested for the rape of a nine year-old girl while under the influence of marijuana. -- FORUM AND CENTURY - Jan. 1939
Clarksburg, W. Va. 1937. Lewis H., twenty-six years of age, arrested for rape of nine-year-old girl while under the influence of marihuana. -- The Traffic In Narcotics By H.J. Anslinger and William F. Tompkins 1953
In Clarksburg, West Virginia (where I once arrested a dope-peddling veterinarian) a young man is arrested for the rape of a nine-year-old child. -- Narcotic Agent: by Maurice Helbrant (book) 1941
W. Va. - Negro raped a girl eight years of age. Two Negros took a girl fourteen years old and kept her for two days in a hut under the influence of marihuana. Upon recovery she was found to be suffering from syphilis.
West Va.-Negro raped a girl eight years of age. Two Negroes took a girl fourteen years old and kept her for two days in a hut under the influence of marihuana. Upon recovery she was found to be "suffering from" syphilis. -- 1990- THE PROTECTORS - By John C. McWilliams
West Virginia 1953 - M First violator Marihuana Tax Act for illegal possession, penitentiary W. Va. 10 years; released; felonious attack with hatchet. e-arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1953 - P. Lopez - m - First violator Marihuana Tax Act for illegal possession, penitentiary W. Va. 10 years; released; felonious attack with hatchet. - Re-arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
See Mexican Pete
WISCONSIN
In Wisconsin, last March, an Indigent person suddenly shot a man while under the influence of MARIHUANA which he had been in the habit of smoking. -- The Union Signal (WCTU) Jan. 30, 1937 [date would have been March 1936]
Wisconsin - 1939 So. Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Male - Drank brandy and smoked 2 marihuana cigarettes; arrested for reckless driving, speeding, injuring 4 persons before driving into a ditch. Mind blank at time of arrest. -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1939 - C. Dirschel - So. Milwaukee, Wisconsin - M - Drank brandy and smoked 2 marihuana cigarettes; arrested for reckless driving, speeding, injuring 4 persons before driving into a ditch. Mind blank at time arrest. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
UUNKNOWN STATES:
Pre-1935 --"Another boy I know got the habit so bad he didn't have enough money to buy all the cigarettes he craved. To get the money he stole jewelry from his mother while under the influence of marihuana and pawned it. He was arrested, but when his mother found out who the thief was she naturally dropped her complaint. -- St. Louis Star times - Jan/Feb 1935
Pre-Feb 1935 Another account is that of a lad of nineteen who "had been brought to the verge of suicide by drugs," and who led the narcotic squad in raiding an apartment: "The young victim said he was driven to desperation by marihuana cigarets he had smoked there, . . . . and had tried to plunge into the river." Prevented by passersby, he was taken to the Boys' Court, where "he confessed he had spent many nights in the apartment where, he said, the drug was sold to boys and girls who were allowed to sleep off the effect. He had been a choir boy when he fell into the clutches of a [pare..] [ ] . . . . He [ ] at the chance to take a three-months cure at the Bridewell." -- The Union Signal (WCTU) Feb 1935
[Pre-1936]
In a city of the Southwest recently, a policeman in the Mexican quarter was stopped by three girls who told him a certain man was making an obscene display of himself near a small hotel. The policeman hurried in the direction indicated, found the man, made him dress properly and placed him under arrest. As they walked toward the police station, the prisoner suddenly swung at the police-man's jaw. The officer fought back, beating the man to the round wearing out his night stick with the final blow. That wasn't enough. The man got up, took a few steps, swung at the officer again. This time the policeman used the butt of his .45 caliber revolver on the man's head. He stayed down for fully a minute, then suddenly got to his feet and raced around the corner with the officer in hot pursuit. THE fugitive, dashing across the street, ran into an automobile traveling approximately Seventeen miles an hour. He hit the pavement. Spectators thought he had been killed. But as they cleared a space, he got up and ran with the speed of a deer out of sight of officer and spectators, and was only rearrested after several hours of search -- The Union Signal (WCTU) Sep. 19, 1936 - “MARIHUANA Growing Scourge” By Rex Stewart
1937-1938 A young lad was sentenced to life imprisonment in an Eastern penitentiary for robbery when armed. After two years he was released on a plea of illness. Within a few weeks he had committed numerous crimes, climaxing his career with the brutal holdup and wanton shooting of a taxi driver. The young criminal, when caught, confessed he was "high" on marihuana when he committed the deed, and stated he had been using the drug for some time prior to his original incarceration. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
A young lad was sentenced in 1935 to life imprisonment in an Eastern penitentiary for robbery when armed. After two years he was released on a plea of illness. Within a few weeks he had committed numerous crimes, climaxing his career with the brutal holdup and wanton shooting of a taxi driver. The young criminal, when caught, confessed he was "high" on marihuana when he committed the deed, and stated he had been using the drug for some time prior to his original incarceration. -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
1937 -- M Assaulted police officers with dangerous weapon while under influence of marihuana. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1937 - S. Golden - m - Assaulted police officers with dangerous weapon while under influence marihuana. Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
[phantom story -- The museum believes this story NEVER happened. Extensive research has been done.]
In Los Angeles, a boy shot and killed a harmless bootblack. -- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
A boy walked down a business street in Los Angeles, saw a bootblack, and hurried -back to his home. One hour later, he returned with a revolver and shot the bootblack dead. He had never seen the man before but his warped brain told him that he "had to kill him." -- True Story (Magazine) - Dec. 1948
In Los Angeles, Calif., a youth was walking along a downtown street after inhaling a marijuana cigarette. For many addicts, merely a portion of a "reefer" is enough to induce intoxication. Suddenly, for no reason, he decided that someone had threatened to kill him and that his life at that very moment was in danger. Wildly he looked about him. The only person in sight was an aged bootblack. Drug-crazed nerve centers conjured the innocent old shoe-shiner into a destroying monster. Mad with fright, the addict hurried to his room and got a gun. He killed the old man, and then, later, babbled his grief over what had been wanton, uncontrolled murder. “I thought someone was after me,” he said. “That’s the only reason I did it. I had never seen the old fellow before. Something just told me to kill him!” That’s marijuana! -- American Magazine “Marijuana, Assassin of Youth” By H.J Anslinger - July 1937
Consternation swept an exclusive Eastern finishing school recently when one of its popular girl students suddenly killed herself. The school authorities hushed up the scandal with a story of accident, then launched an investigation to determine the cause of the tragedy. The suicide was a charming, seventeen-year-old girl of good family. Money worries were out of the question. Her scholastic record, until shortly before her death, had been good. She had no serious love affairs. Illness was also precluded; she had been a normal, athletic girl who liked school sports and played them well enough to compete in basketball, tennis and pool events. -- Physical Culture magazine - Feb. 1937
1938 -Bigamy: M 22 After smoking 2 marihuana cigarettes, married waitress, although already married and with 3-year old child. Everything went blank, and he had no control. -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1938 - S. Tucker - M - 22 - After smoking 2 marihuana cigarettes, married waitress, although already married and with 3-yr. old child. Every-thing went blank, and he had no control. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
[JOHN BACA] COMMISSIONER ANSLINGER: Yes. And there has been some gun play. The first case that we arrested under the Marihuana Act, (I happened to have been present in the Denver court when they brought this fellow up before the judge.) had been a user for a number of years. He was only 23 years old, but many of his arrests were for assault. - [BACA] -- Marihuana Conference HELD DECEMBER 5, 1938
Just recently in a large Eastern city, a girl of fifteen went out from school at lunch time to buy some fruit from a peddler standing in front of the building. She was offered a "nice new kind of cigarette, which gives a different thrill, at two for a quarter." Her father, well-informed parent that he was, had previously told his children about narcotics and narcotic peddling. As a result of his foresight, three fruit peddlers handling reefers as a side line--or as a main part of their business outside schools were arrested and convicted. -- Heath magazine Oct. 1938
Another boy of a good family in the same county is serving a term in the state penal farm for a crime he committed while crazed from smoking this death weed. "He knew little of what he had done when he came out of his daze," said Night Captain William Harris of the Connersville police. "When we arrested him, he was so excited we could hardly manage him, and crying, hysterical and violent -- The Prairie Farmer - July 30, 1938
1939 - Age around 30 [1938] - A white male, age thirty, family history negative. His parents were of moderate means and patient attended grade school and finished high school. He made fair grades. I first saw him in 1931, when he was twenty-three years old. He worked at intervals in his father's restaurant, but never steady. He was considered by his parents to be somewhat rowdy, would drink whiskey at times also stay out all night from home, and associate with questionable characters. He also began smoking marijuana and was later arrested and jailed for disturbing the peace. He improved or quited down while in jail and after a week or so was released. Again in 1932 I was called to see him. His blood and spinal Wassermann tests were negative, he was restless, hyperactive, pupils dilated, he had delusions of grandeur and expansive ideas. We could not keep him at home without restraint, and his family again sent him to jail for the protection of himself and others. I ask for a hearing in lunacy at that time but he again showed some signs of improvement after a few days and no action was taken. He was again set free but after a short time he appeared at the jail again of his own accord and ask to be locked up and treated for his habit but he was not accepted. At that time he was smoking the drug rather freely and rolling his own. He continued his habit and was in and out of trouble, he was married and divorced. Soon his father died and he and his mother moved to Colorado with friends. He secured a job as chauffeur from his friend. In a few months they drove back to Wichita. One night while driving his friend to the country he demanded that his friend sign a bill of sale for the car, also had him sign other papers. He then shot him in the chest, placed him in the back of the car and went to a dance. After the dance he drove to an open well and was going to throw him in but changed his mind and put him back in the car, then drove to the country to a cabin and decided to burn him. He put him in the cabin, set fire to it and burned a part of the building and decided not to burn him. He put him back in the car and drove around Wichita the remainder of the night and in the morning took him to one of our local hospitals and left him, where he died the next day. At that time the patient had in his possession a pistol, whiskey, and marijuana. He was arrested for murder placed in jail and adjudged insane by a commission. He was sent to the Lansing penitentiary and placed in the insane ward. In October, 1938, he was adjudged sane by the prison commission and he was brought back to the Sedgwick County jail awaiting trial for murder. -- The JOURNAL OF THE KANSAS MEDICAL SOCIETY Dec. 1939
An intern was standing at the head of a flight of stairs in a small Midwestern hospital, when the medical superintendent at the foot of the stairway beckoned to him to come down. But the intern stood there, not budging. Impatiently, the superintendent told him to hurry up. "But, doctor, I can't come down! The first step is fifty feet, and I would be killed," said the intern. At this remark the superintendent hastened up the stairs. He told the intern that the first step was only nine inches, but still he couldn't be persuaded to try it. The superintendent called a couple of assistants, and had the intern put under observation for twenty-four hours. It developed that he had been given some "special cigarettes" by a young doctor who was on the hospital staff. Upon investigation it was found that this doctor had been smoking marihuana cigarettes for some time, and was trying to get the intern started in its use. That doctor was dismissed from the staff and later went insane as a result of the continued use of marihuana. -- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
[Pre-1939] -- A white male age twenty. He gave a history of smoking marijuana for two years, and he took his first cigaret while at a parry, along with friends. After that he took it for the kick or feeling it gave him. He said after he has smoked two or three he felt like he was stepping over the top of the door instead of going through it. He felt great and had no embarrassment. One day while shaving he cut his throat from ear to ear and died within an hour. -- The JOURNAL OF THE KANSAS MEDICAL SOCIETY Dec. 1939
Girls of prominent families, while under the influence of marihuana, have been vulgarly photographed and then blackmailed -- On the trial of Marihuana the Weed of Madness 1939
A white male age nineteen, a musician, had smoked marijuana for over a year. He soaked it in alcohol and rolled it himself. When he played in the orchestra for dances the music flowed better after he smoked two or three cigarettes, and he could play fast without any effort and the music seemed to flow without trouble. This patient was killed in an automobile wreck early one morning while returning home from a dance. -- The JOURNAL OF THE KANSAS MEDICAL SOCIETY Dec. 1939
While walking along the street with a marihuana smoker one day, we suddenly missed him, and turned around to find him twenty feet behind, crouched, ready to jump. He was gyrating strangely, evidently priming himself for a record broad jump. - "What's the trouble, George?" I asked. - "I don't think I can make it," he insisted. - "Make what?" I queried. - "I can't jump that chasm." - I finally found his "chasm" - a half-inch crack in the sidewalk! To him, under the influence of marihuana, as he was, it had become a yawning, impassable abyss! - This story of "George the addict," the would-be champion broad jumper, illustrates the curious manner in which reefers destroy the time and space relations -- On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness (1939) By Earle Rowell
A boy in a southern city was found cowering on the sidewalk. He refused to move from this position and also appeared to be in abject terror. Finally, babbling to the police, he said he could not cross the crack in the sidewalk because it was too deep and too wide. If he slipped, he knew he would fall to his death. -- True Story (Magazine) Dec. 1948
A person hopped up with the weed may walk up to a six-inch-wide line, retreat, run full speed and broad jump as far as possible. believing the line to be at least 12 feet wide. Coming to a tiny, trickle of water he may start taking off his clothes, getting ready to dive in. He may feel himself smaller than a mouse or larger than a giraffe, the Statue of Liberty come alive or the shape of an ink bottle. A street curb may become a cliff from which he is sure to jump to death or it may appear as an unscalable wall. A man drunk on reefers may get ideas that he is a bird and step out of a 15th story absolutely sure that the law of gravity does not apply to him. -- Fortnight Newsmagazine Aug 20, 1951
The superintendent of schools in a mid-state city told me of several boys under his jurisdiction who confessed to the use of marihuana in cigarette form. Realizing that the youngsters were victims rather than criminals, the school official endeavoured to secure from them the names of the real offenders---the peddlers. The boys refused to divulge any information that would incriminate the lower-than-skunk "Peds." Pressed for a reason for their refusal, they finally blurted out that they had been sworn to silence on a terrible oath which involved death by slow torture if they "squealed." Promises of protection by the police proved unavailing. Threats made no impression upon them. They were obdurate and the superintendent assured me he had every reason to believe they were in deadly fear of the consequences if they gave out any information. Evidently the lads had been well schooled as to the method of torture to be applied if they "squawked," for it had made an indelible impression upon their minds. The "peds" had described in detail what had happened to others who had not kept the oath. I did not meet these boys; I have the word of the school official for this case. -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
A school superintendent found some boys in his system who confessed to smoking marihuana reefers. Pressed for a reason why they would not tell who the peddlers were they said that they had been sworn to silence on a terrible oath which involved their death by slow torture if they "squealed." Now do you see why young people today won't divulge things to their parents! Maybe they are pledged to dreadful secrecy. -- Book 1939- Enemies Of Youth
A sixteen-year-old boy shot his mother and father to death with his father's shotgun after smoking several "Mary Anns" given to him by a new friend whose acquaintance he made by chance. He could neither explain nor remember the killing when the effects of the drug had worn off and sobbed himself into hysterical grief when told of his crime. -- The Silent Horror By Elmer James Rollings 1939
Pre-1939 A recent letter from a distracted mother in one of our southern states is picked from my daily mail and published here as proof that such conditions actually exist. She writes: "In junior high school here the Parent-Teacher's Association discovered that marihuana was being sold to the children, with the result that many of them had been indulging in NUDE dancing parties after school hours in a home where both the father and mother were employed, and where no older person was present before evening." Parents, please note: This was a JUNIOR High School! -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
A recent letter from a distracted mother in one of our southern states is picked from my daily mail and published here as proof that such conditions actually exist. She writes: "In junior high school here the Parent-Teachers' Association discovered that marihuana was being sold to the children, with the result that many of them had been indulging in NUDE dancing parties after school hours in a home where both the father and mother were employed, and where no older person was present before evening. "Parents, please note: This was a JUNIOR High School! -- Moloch Of Marihuana (1945) Robert James Devine
In one school the P. T. A. discovered that marihuana was sold to the children and they had been indulging in NUDE dancing parties after school hours in a home where both parents worked. -- Book 1939- Enemies Of Youth
1939 - M Threw glass at bartender while smoking marihuana just bought from peddler. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1939 - M - Threw glass at bartender while smoking marihuana just bought from a peddler. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
1939 - M 39 Assaulted and shot another man in controversy while both smoking marihuana. Convicted -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1939 - M - 39 - Assaulted and shot another man in controversy while both smoking marihuana. - Convicted -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
An eighteen-year-old boy in a Midwestern city smoked two "reefers" and an hour later choked his sweetheart to death because she refused his shocking, lustful advances, born in a marijuana-crazed brain. He later testified that he loved her and had intended to marry her and when normal would never have dreamed of an improper suggestion, let alone the horrible murder. -- The Silent Horror By Elmer James Rollings 1939
1940 - M 33 Forced his landlady, Mrs. M. delisle to smoke marihuana, and frequently raped her. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1940 - J. Piadura - M - 33 - Forced his landlady, Mrs. M. de Lisle, to smoke marihuana and raped her frequently. - Arrested - 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
1940-- Male, 21 years old - Auto theft, after 9 thefts with armed robbery; robbed and shot druggist. Sentenced, 25 years -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1940 - G. McLean - M - 21 - Auto theft, after 9 thefts with armed robbery; robbed and shot druggist. - Sentenced 25 years -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
1940 - M Stole gun from employer, held up, shot salesman stomach for not following instructions; attempted rape clerk; stole $75; Police tracked him down, so he 'shot himself. -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1940 - R. F, - M - Stole gun from employer, held up shot salesman stomach for not following instructions; attempted rape clerk, stole $75; police tracked him down, so he shot himself. - Death -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Shot salesman for not obeying orders in $75 holdup while under influence of marijuana. -- The Truth about Marijuana - Stepping Stone to Destruction June 1967
Pre-1945 --“One investigator has described some tearful parents who brought their 16 year old son to a physician after he had been detected in the act of smoking marihuana. A noticeable mental deterioration had been evident for some time even to their lay minds. The boy said he had read an account of the La Guardia Committee report and that this was his justification for using marihuana. He read in Down Beat, a musical journal, an analysis of this report under the caption "Light Up Gates, Report Finds 'Tea' a Good Kick." -- JAMA - April 28, 1945
The evil effect of smoking Marijuana is terrific. Just recently, in my presence, two Erie County pastors reminded their congregations that a boy in each of their towns had been committed to an Insane Asylum because of Marijuana addiction. -- War with the Underworld 1946
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
1953 - M Attempted robbery diner; has 16 marihuana cigarettes plus one butt; admitted being confirmed user. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
1953 - J. Reynolds - M - Attempted robbery diner; had 16 marihuana cigarettes plus 1 butt; admitted being confirmed user. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
[Pre-1954] - When a boy, without apparent reason, pushes two little playmates to their deaths from a high cliff, there's something behind it. -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
Recently in a large Mid-Western city a young lad and his mother approached me following the showing of the film. The boy told me he had been shot in the abdomen by police officers while robbing a gas station. His companion escaped. Following major abdominal surgery and three months in the hospital the young bandit was to face trial in court with every prospect of a heavy sentence. He told me he had acquired the reefer habit in grade school and for months had stolen money from his mother and others to purchase the loaded cigarettes. He followed this up by stealing cars and robbing mail boxes in apartment houses, (watching especially for checks mailed by the U. S. government to veterans.) Finally, he took to robbery armed. This boy was fifteen years old! -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
After listening to such a sordid story freely given by a mere boy of fifteen nonchalantly describing (from behind prison bars) his gamut of debasing escapades -- His expose of immorality in his small town high school was so shocking that I refused to accept his statements without confirmation. His arrest on charges involving a seven-year-old girl evidently precipitated a long-needed investigation. His defiant defense that the charge against him was a frame-up to hide the actual culprits, whom he named as the father, uncle, and two brothers of the girl seemed so preposterous that authorities looked upon his counter-charges as an alibi. Investigation proved he was not prevaricating. "Why should I," he asked me, "bother with a kid that age, who is already diseased, when I can have my choice of most of the girls in high school? Any fellow who drives a car to school can take his pick-and he don't have to stick with the same one. Us guys change around all the time." (I have not used his exact language, because it would not make music in anyone's ears. Had my readers heard his story in his own words they would understand my desire for an external-internal bath at the earliest possible moment.) -- “Assassin of Youth” (Book) 1954 By Robert Devine
A gang of boys tear the clothes from two school girls and rape the screaming girls. ---Chicago Tribune Jan 17, 1962 pg 5 -- “Reefers: A Fast Road Downhill” by Harry J. Anslinger; Will Oursler
? M With another Negro, M. G. arrested after committing 7 robberies under influence marihuana. Arrested -- Article by James C. Munch; "UN Bulletin on Narcotics"-1966 Issue 2
? - A. Patterson - M - With M. Goldsby, negroes, arrested after committing 7 robberies under influence marihuana. - Arrested -- 6th conference report - INEOA 1965
Committed seven robberies while using marijuana. -- The Truth about Marijuana - STEPPING STONE to DESTRUCTION June 1967
Raped woman, while under influence of marijuana, and threatened to kill victim’s children. -- The Truth about Marijuana - STEPPING STONE to DESTRUCTION June 1967
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