One Hitter in Kentucky Cannabis History: The Big Camp Nelson Bust
Today, it’s known far and wide that Kentucky growers produce some of the best cannabis on the planet, a reputation that was earned back in the 1980s and 90s. But, Kentucky’s reputation as a producer of illicit cannabis goes back to the earliest days of cannabis prohibition. Back in 1941, Jessamine County was apparently the hub of a significant multistate marijuana operation.
On April 13, 1941 the headline Narcotics Agents Arrest Five: 200 Pounds of Marijuana Seized appeared the front page of the Lexington Herald Leader. At the time, “(t)he haul was the largest ever made in a raid in this section of the country,” and Federal narcotics agents claimed the Kentucky arrests were “believed to have broken up a ring of dope peddlers which supported a wide territory including the states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky.”
By USDA by Forsythe - National Hemp Association website, credited to USDA; http://nationalhempassociation.org/hemp-history-june-1942-war-demands-more-hemp/ ,
Public Domain; https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53388460
In an inter departmental operation Federal officers, detectives from the Lexington police department as well as authorities from Jessamine County and the city of Nicholasville raided a home along the river bottom near Camp Nelson. Ultimately police intended to charge 6 people Henry Cross (69) and his son Arthur (30) of Nicholasville were immediately taken into custody and charged with “possessing and selling marijuana”, while Arthur’s wife Rosie Lee Cross (21) would be taken into custody after making arrangements for child care. Also arrested were 3 men from Camp Nelson, Will Easley (65), Perry Glass (39) and a man Penick Caldwell (29) identified as a “Negro” all charged with “possessing the drug.” Federal narcotics agents reported that “undercover agents Friday night bought seven pounds of the drug for $35” from the Crosses. According to police reports the three claimed “the weed could be obtained in any quantity, from ‘one pound up to 500 pounds.”
Through their investigation officers learned Penick Caldwell was apparently the “runner” for the group, mostly functioning “as contact man between the producer and the consumer.” Narcotics agents “next secured a warrant for Easley’s arrest and it was in the attic of his river bottom residence that they found six gunny sacks filled with the narcotic.” According to authorities each sack weighed between 30 or 35 pounds.” Glass was the last person in the organization arrested. Officers asserted Glass was the “general supply agent’…who furnished the marijuana to Easley.” The seriousness of the crime is reflected in the bail set for each alleged perpetrator. At time when the average annual income was under $1,500 1 bail was significant. Bond for Glass was set at $5,000 while Easley, Caldwell and Arthur Cross each had bail set at $1,000. The lowest was Henry Cross’s bond at $500.
In the summer of 1952, hemp plants growing wild in a lot in downtown Louisville, Ky., were killed with chemical spray. Credit...The Courier-Journal, via Associated Press
Apparently, Camp Nelson had become something of hub for illegal cannabis activity as “(n)arcotics agents had known for several months that marijuana peddlers were active in the Nicholasville and Camp Nelson areas.” The article noted that “(c)omplaints that Camp Nelson was the center of marijuana supply for several states ha(d) been reaching the Lexington narcotic office for more than a year.” It goes on to report that “(a)ddicts arrested from…Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Indianapolis and many other cities in that general area (the Midwest) told authorities that marijuana taken from them came from ‘Camp Nelson in Jessamine county.”
The river bottom land along the Kentucky river near Camp Nelson in Jessamine county is particularly rich and productive. Historically, the area was ideal for growing hemp for seed. These hemp plants were raised differently than the tall closely planted hemp fiber plants. Hemp grown for seed was grown like marijuana with adequate space between the plants for them to develop branches of dense flowers filled with seeds. With over 100 years of hemp cultivation, no wonder “(l)ocal authorities stated that wild hemp, the leaves and flowers of which provide marijuana, grew profusely along the river bottoms near Camp Nelson.” Indeed, prior to the Civil War the area was a private farm. It is possible that hemp was among the crops they raised.
It is even conceivable that the cannabis police found in Easley’s attic was poached from a nearby legal crop. Kentucky’s hemp industry never modernized. Hemp was grown and the stalks broken by hand in the field by hired workers. Kentucky hemp was a “processed” product when it left the farm. As such Kentucky hemp producers and dealers were not stifled by the “transfer tax” component of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Businesses that attempted to utilize a central processing model, like those in Minnesota, Illinois and Texas, failed because of the “transfer tax”. This model revolved around a central processing plant that purchased raw hemp stalks from contract farmers and processed them using mechanical means. Because there was still flower and leaf on the stalks, the act of transferring the raw hemp from the farmer to the processor triggered a tax that was significantly more than the value of the legal transaction. But this transfer tax was mostly irrelevant in Kentucky as the production of hemp fiber and seed continued after passage of the 1937 tax law. 2
And what became of these true OGs? Did police get tough on the Cross crime family? Was Glass able to make bail? There is an undercurrent of racism throughout the history of the “War on Drugs”, the police said Penick “Caldwell was ‘runner’ or go-between for the drug ring. He allegedly acted as contact man between the producer and the consumer…”. What was his sentence? Glass’s bail was the highest, indicating police thought he was the ring leader. Was he? Did he have a prior record?
I didn’t research what happened as this case moved through the criminal injustice system. Perhaps that story will load another “One Hitter” from KY NORML.
Sources:
1 Petro, Diane “Brother Can You Spare a Dime “ Prologue Magazine, Spring 2012 Vol. 44 No. 1 National Archives and Records Administration Website
2 Supporting evidence for this include: The hemp business records of Spears Family at the University of Kentucky Special Collections Library contain correspondence about selling hemp fiber as late as 1939. While newspaper accounts note that Hudson Davis of Danville sold $40,000 worth of Kentucky hemp to the Boston US Naval Ropewalk in 1940. Both stories are documented in Tales from the Kentucky Hemp Highway by the author of this blog.
DAN ISENSTEIN
An unabashed history nerd, Dan Isenstein started doing serious research into cannabis hemp while a graduate student in the Popular Culture Studies program at Bowling Green State University. Tales from the Kentucky Hemp Highway, Dan's first book, builds on the research utilized in creating the self-directed eponymous tour launched in 2016. In addition to research and writing, Dan also chaired the organizing committee for the inaugural Winchester Hemp Harvest Festival in 2019 and authored several articles about hemp in Terpenes and Testing Magazine. Dan also hosts Hemp Threads: Weaving an Industry on the Hemp Highway of Kentucky YouTube channel.
