In March 1974, Roger Trenton Davis was sentenced to 40 years in prison for 9 ounces of marijuana, an unusually harsh punishment that would make him nationally known as the âmarijuana martyr.â
Today, possession of small amounts of marijuana is legal in Virginia. Davis is a free man. And the Southwest Virginia native, now 75, is making the best of both things.
âThat martyr? Thatâs who I am,â Davis said in an interview Thursday. âI believe that every person on the face of the earth should be allowed to enjoy Godâs herb.â
Davis spent hard time in prison for possessing an amount of marijuana that, under laws that took effect July 1, in most circumstances would be punishable by no more than a $25 fine.
The Dr Pepper formula and name began in Paris, Texas. And, the first Coca-Cola sold in Texas was at B.F. Ledgerâs cubby-hole confectionary on the south side of the townâs square. We are sticking to that story.
No doubt, as Mary Clark pointed out in her column May 16, a visit to the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco is a pleasure. It is a shame, however, that the docents there do not mention to visitors that four men from Paris did the primary work to invent at least part of the recipe and bottle the product.
We donât know how this group got to Paris, but we suspect a link between one of the four and a local druggist, Dr. W.C. Elliott. We do know from our townâs most reliable writer, A.W. Neville, the locals tinkered with and sold a fountain drink at least at the Tennessee Drug Store, and learned the bottling profession where three also were employed at the Elliott Bottling Works.
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Itâs advertised as a âspecial placeâ where children and adults of all ages can âexperience a different kind of vacation.â
Perched in the mountains of Southwest Virginia at Rural Retreat, A.R.E. Camp is where campers have been flocking to for decades to hike, swim, meditate, eat meals made from the organic vegetable garden, and sing around a campfire.
Itâs also where at least eight women say they were sexually assaulted and harassed when they were teenager campers, according to two lawsuits filed Wednesday in Virginia Beach Circuit Court.
The men who abused them were adult counselors and other staff members who ranged in age from their late teens to 40s, said Ed Vasquez, a spokesman for the law firm representing the women.
Eight women allege sexual abuse at Virginia summer camp
DENISE LAVOIE, AP Legal Affairs Writer
April 28, 2021
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) The Association for Research and Enlightenment describes itself as a 90-year-old organization for people to explore meditation, holistic health and the meaning of life. But eight women who filed lawsuits against the organization Wednesday allege they were sexually harassed, abused or raped as children while attending its rural Virginia summer camp.
In the lawsuits, filed in state court in Virginia Beach, where the organization is headquartered, the women describe what they said was a decadeslong camp culture that let adult male staffers sexually abuse young female campers with impunity.