The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 55

"-3fi A iff 7 1 '3', i A 11 in i Nev. Federal and Slate Legislation Aimed at Stamping Out the Wicked Marijuana tat Drive It Smokers Into lramcih Murderous Outbreaks andDestroy t. r-s A k. 'Oh. 7 1 ky t.VTF-.

i c- (-chippy-) Sf fMti, A Aceompllc ef Ethel, (V i 'o'V- Sohl la the New -'i 'V'k' Jersey Bfarljuana 4 i Wko Ale Received a Iirt -k -L 7 A i'v Although the -c Dome a Pictured I Not Vtelbl. V. ta This Back Lot la Brook--- 1 tya, N. It AetaaBy a Devirs Garden" and Typical of Hundreds Other Mart- least little noise. A dopey feeling comes when you're going down, and you get mopey.

You get so you can't stop smoking ths Marijuana peddlers apparently practice their trad ui pretty much th same way as other dope peddlers. Operating to a large extent In the neighborhoods of high and even elementary schools, they insinuate themselves Into the confidence of the pupils. To Grabbing a gun that on CV 'I of the boys had been showing sane. Grabbing a gun that on of the boys had been showing the Mind Polio Bureau Photographs Ethel Sohl, the Young New Jersey "Reefer" Addict Who Blamed Marijuana for Inciting Her to Murder and "Bobbery, and (Lower Right) "Bunny- Aa a Child, New Dirtmlng She Would Go to Prieoe for Life. 'v By JOSEPHINE QUIRK, Associate, Editor "The Cat hollo Bey," aad Iteeearch Specialist oa Modern Crime.

find the defendant, a Kthel Sohl and Gene- VV vieve Owens, guilty of In the first degree with a recommendation of mercy and a sentence of life Imprisonment at hard labor." These words wen apoken a few week ago at the clow of the sensa-tional trial of two young girls, one 20 and the other 17, for the $2.10 holdup murder of a New Jersey bus, driver. After the reading of the verdict, i Judge Brennan dismissed the Jury, "This has been one of the moat 1 gruelling and difficult cases my experience and your verdict Is fair and just and In accordance with the evidence." 1 He might have added that the ver- diet would have been even more fair, Just, and in accordance with the evidence if. In addition to Ethel Sohl's and Genevieve Owens', It had con-tained a third girlish name, that of "Marijuana" which, literally translated, means: Marijuana participated In the murder of bus-driver William Barhorst Just si much as either Ethel or Genevieve did. But, unfortunately, "Mary-Jane" Is not human and so could not be held responsible. While Ethel and Genevieve are paying their debt to society behind prison walls, their partner-In -crime will be going -Its free way, Inciting other girls and boys to careers of madness and crime Marijuana Is a drug whose use this country during the past few years has spread like wildfire.

According to figures of the Federal Narcotics Bureau, a third of the conservatively estimated 100,000 marijuana addicts In the United States are children in their teens.x So," innocent looking resembles' a home-mad cigarette can now be ranked high up among the menaces to the youth of America. Its Innocent appearance Is a camouflage, a fraud. In reality It Is as deadly as tuberculosis, typhoid and other diseases. Dr. J.

Lynn Mahaffey, Director of the New Jersey State Department of Health, said recently: "Marijuana Is a dangerous narcotic 1 "drug and should be let alone. The youth of the country should under- stand this and fear It as they have ample reason to do. And parents should see to It that their children know the hideous facta about this deceptive drug before they, are tempted to as it. Teach children to hat It so much that If they are urged to smoke a cigarette' called a 'reefer or muggles or Mary Warner or other queer name, aa automatic "NoT will spring up within them s. kill your kill your was They wanted and take command of the situation thrflla.

Good old Bunny was supply-before It 1s too tote. Free and easy fag them. Her friend asked, "Why toleration has no place In the fight km mT Why pick on meT" against this drug and those who pro- "Because," said the drug-erased girl, mote its use." "I Just got to kill someone!" However, despite the alarming In- "Well-why don't you kin yourself?" vr The of a "Beefer." Th Photograph Shows the Marijuana la Its Growing Stat, Then Flaked, and Finally Boiled Into Rio Paper Just Uk Home-Mad Cigarette, her, she pointed it at her best friend and said, Tra going to Of course they thought she suggestea one or ui ooys uKiuKV. "That's a swen Idea!" replied Bunny, and turning the gun on herself, sent a bullet through her brain. Nothing could be more unfair or unwarranted than the laughter In that courtroom.

It proves how Ignorant the pybllc Is on everything concerning this dangerous drug. Everything Ethel Sohl said, everything the professor testified, could happen, has happened. Is happening every day. Marijuana actually does all the things claimed by both these witnesses, as the following description of It by the United States Bureau of Narcotics Indicates: "While its effect are variable with different Individuals, It usually produces first an exaltation with a feeling of well-being, a happy, Jovial mood, and an Increased feeling of physical strength. Ther Is also a stimulation of the Imagination followed by a more or less delirious state characterised by vivid kaleidoscopic visions, sometimes of a pleasing or sensual kind, but occasionally of a gruesome nature.

Accompanying this delirious state Is a remarkable loss In spatial and tlma the older ones they give first few cigarettes trusting that these will be enough to create a craving. Pupils too young to smoke do not escape the advances of marijuana peddlers. Harmless-looking pink candy, piU-ahaped and flavored with pine-, apple, strawberry, lemon and other fruits. Is used to tempt ths youthful appetite. Mixed with the sugar and flavoring Is enough marijuana to give the child a "kick." to make it want more, 'in other words, to make It an addict 'v An older and more sinister name of marijuana Is It is an herb that will grow Jn most parts of th world.

As It needs little cultivation, la easy for the drug ring to grow quantities of It without detection. Great fields of hashish were discovered recently by th Federal Narcotics Bureau bi various parts of the country, proving to what extent th habit has developed. Formerly It had to be smuggled Into th country. Th name hashish alone Is proof that an addict will often kUL The nam comes from hashan. The Hainan tribe of Persia, before going Into battle, would brew a drug that they knew would give them superhuman power and make them killers.

They drank this tea and went out and killed. The drug became Identified with this tribe and was called hashish. One who-used the drug was known as a hashshashln, from which get the English word A member of th narcotic squad was during recently at one of the swanky night clubs In New York one that boasted of its highly publicised swing band. A lady in the party was especially amused by the antics of the man Who provided the "noise" -with a series of contraptions that he manipulated with amazing rapidity and force. She remarked laughingly that he acted like a half -erased drug fiend.

"You're not far wrong!" said the detective. "He is an addiet marijuana." "But lieutenant how can you tell 7" "By his eyes. By the conspicuous redness of the whites of his eyes, I know he's a confirmed, user." The detective revealed that the police knew marijuana was spreading 'among th swing bands. Ths terrific strain as well as the exciting nature of their work, the long hours of work and rehearsal have created a physical condition that made some sort of added stimulus necessary. The police records will show that (Continued oa Page If) relations; parsons and things in th environment took small; time is interminable; seconds seem like minutes add hours like days.

principal effect of the drug Is upon the mind, which seems to lose th power of directing and controlling thought Its continued us produces pronounced mental deterioration In many cases. Its more Immediate effect apparently Is to remove the normal Inhibitions of th individual and release any antisocial tendencies which may be present Those who Indulge tat Its habitual use eventually develop a delirious rag after Its administration, during which Urn they are temporarily, at least Irresponsible and prone crease in the use of marijuana, so great Is the Ignorance regarding It that spectators at the trial of Ethel Sohl and Genevieve Owens laughed when Ethel, testified that under the influence of "reefers" she had become temporarily insane and murdered Barhorst while. In that condition. Wisecracks flew thick and fast through the courtroom. "It's a great gag if she can get away with it!" "Sure beating the rap because she smokes reefers Is a new high in something or other!" "Yeahguess I'll take a few puffs myself and pop off my old man!" But the hilarity reached Its climax when the Judge Joined the spectators In their laughter.

It was when Dr. James Munch, pharmacologist and authority on narcotics, took the stand. He testified that the smoking of marijuana could account for Ethel's career of crime. He Insisted that addicts have hallucinations and loss of memory that causa them to commit crime. He insisted that Ethel need not have smoked a reefer at the time of the murder to be under the Influence of the drug for she had been smoking It over a period of time and the effect la cumulative.

Dr. Munch had taken the drug himself for experimental purpose so that he could personally know the reactions of any one under its Influence. It was while he was describing these reactions that the Judge was amused and Jested with the professor. It would be Interesting to know how that laughing audience would have reacted had the defense attorney Cited the case of Bunny Gordon. She was a high school girl, daughter of wealthy parents and lived in on of the country's smartest suburbs.

With her pals, an children of wealth, she met every afternoon In vacant house to smoke reefers. On day Bunny suddenly became In- to commit violent crimes." An illuminating example of this general description is provided further along In" the same report A gang of seven young men, all under 20, 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 marijuana. "On of th youths admitted that he had smoked 'reefers on and off for at least 2 years, and said that' when be went with th others on stick-up he was "ready to tear anybody apart' who opposed him. He claimed the practice of smoking marijuana first started among his friends about 4 or years previously, while most of them were stin In high school.

"In describing his crimes, he said: Tf 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 hard- est problem was to. get these youths to remember who committed the stick-ups, or when or where Ihey happened. When police told hem 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 Impossible for them to break off the habit when they could still get the drug so easily, they claimed. When you try to break off you get Jumpy, your hands shake, and you bear the iin 'W -S.

WW Sketch by a "Reefer" Smoker, While Under the Influence of Marijuana. Hln Owa Imagined Experience la aa Automobile, Picturing His Extraordinary Sensations While Driving. by Americas Weekly. Inc. 'f Great Britain RifhU Rescrvs..