by Bob Chessey
Narcotic traffickers aim to profit by delivering contraband across geopolitical lines; however, there are physicians who trespass the legal medical line to exploit and deliver narcotics by charging addicts money to receive illegally written prescriptions. These criminal medical transactions began with the enactment of the 1915 Harrison Narcotic Act and occurred throughout the US, including El Paso. Physicians arrested in El Paso for this violation include Dr. Francis A. Molina in February, 1916,i and Dr. J. C. Dysart in May, 1919.ii At times the cupidity of the criminally inclined physician extended beyond the unlawful act of writing illegal prescriptions.
On the morning of Tuesday, August 13, 1918, El Paso physician M. C. Melanson attended a meeting at the business of J. R. Hunter, the owner of a South El Paso drug store. Their discussions were interrupted when, based upon a complaint lodged by Internal Revenue Inspector C. A. Wood, Deputy United States Marshal J. B. DuBose arrested the pair on a charge of conspiracy to engage in the illegal distribution of narcotics: morphine, cocaine, and heroin, valued at two thousand dollars ($42,523.16 in 2024).
Simultaneous with the Melanson and Hunter’s arrests, in a different South El Paso drug store, Dr. Guillermo Q. Ellsworth, and the pharmacy’s two owners Melchor Calderon and Aureilo Medrano, were taken into custody by federal narcotic agents for violation of the Harrison Act.iii However, three days later the Government abruptly dropped charges against Medrano and Ellsworth.iv
Dr. Melanson’s 1918 arrest was not his first federal narcotic violation. In mid-December 1916 both he and Dr. Ellsworth had been apprehended, charged with the unlawful sale of morphine and cocaine, and found guilty. At the time of their second arrest in 1918 both doctors were free on bond pending appeal for their initial convictions.v
It is possible that the charges in 1918 against Ellsworth were dropped because the feds succeeded in making a deal with doctor, flipping Ellsworth to become an informant who either set up the meetings or alerted investigators to when and where the two drug stores meetings would take place, allowing agents to plan the pair of raids.
A person must have a certain level of “smarts” to be a physician. So, it is surprising that when returning to El Paso after his release from prison, Dr. Melanson, who had already been busted twice by narcotic agents for illegally selling narcotics to addicts and had served four years in Leavenworth Penitentiary for his combined 1916 and 1918 narcotic convictions, failed to learn from his previous mistakes. Instead, he tossed caution and all common sense to the West Texas wind, and was determined to resume selling narcotics illicitly.
Doctor Melanson, who at the time of his prison release still possessed a license in Texas to practice medicine, applied to the federal government for a license to dispense narcotics. During the routine background check federal investigators observed several suspected addicts visiting Dr. Melanson’s 3615 Alameda Street office. Following up on their suspicions, the narcotic agents directed an informer, using marked money, to make multiple illegal purchases of narcotics from the physician.
As a result of the agents’ investigation on January 20, 1926, the recalcitrant physician was arrested once again on federal narcotic violation charges. Melanson was charged with the unlawful purchase of four grains of morphine, the sale of various amounts of morphine over several occasions, and selling narcotics without being licensed by the federal government. Dr. Melanson was convicted a third time and sentenced to one year and a day.vi
The Hippocratic Oath does not appear to have ever been a consideration in Dr. Melanson’s business plan.
i “DR. MOLINA ARRESTED ON CHARGE SELLING PRESCRIPTIONS,” El Paso Herald, February 16, 1916, p. 2.
ii “DYSART TRIAL IS ON,” El Paso Herald, May 5, 1919, p. 8.
iii “TWO DOCTORS AND THREE OTHERS HELD BY GOVERNMENT,” El Paso Herald, August 13, 1918, p. 8; “Two Physicians, Three Druggists Are Held by U. S.,” El Paso Morning Times, August 14, 1918, p. 10.
iv “BOUND OVER,” El Paso Morning Times, August 16, 1918, p. 5.
v “Held to U. S. Grand Jury on Charge of Violating Drug Act,” El Paso Morning Times, December 17, 1916, p. 11; El Paso Morning Times, August 14, 1918.
vi “Picked Up In the FEDERAL Building,” El Paso Herald, January 21, 1926, p. 2; “CONVICT DOC; MARKED CASH,” El Paso Post, April 9, 1926, p. 1; “El Paso Physician Pleads Not Guilty To Narcotic Charge,” El Paso Herald, April 8, 1926, p. 1.