APPENDIX D ADMISSIONS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE ALCOHOL Red West purposely went out and got drunk (Dunleavy, Elvis: What Happened? Mass-market paperback p 10). Sonny West got drunk on Mai Tais and suffered an alcohol blackout (Dunleavy, Elvis: What Happened? Mass market paperback p 259. West, Elvis: Still Taking Care Of Business. Hardcover p 91). Rick Stanley started drug and alcohol abuse long before he joined Elvis on tour (Stanley, Caught In A Trap: Elvis Presley’s Tragic Lifelong Search For Love. Hardcover pp 134-135). Richard E. Davis struck and killed a gardener while driving Elvis Presley’s car. Elvis was sued by the widow of the gardener for $501,400 in 1963, (equivalent to $5,344,759 in 2026). The complaint stated that Harvey Henslin, 45 walked down the driveway of an employer’s home when he was struck by the car. Elvis was not in the car at the time of the accident (“Elvis Presley Sued After His Car Kills Man In California.” The Sunday News and Tribune, Jefferson City, Missouri, Sunday, May 12, 1963 p 7). Go Straight to Books APPENDIX D ADMISSIONS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE ACID/LSD Jerry Schilling also participated in taking LSD at Graceland (Schilling, Me & A Guy Named Elvis. Paperback pp 138-139). Priscilla Beaulieu experimented with LSD (Beaulieu, Elvis And Me. Mass-market paperback p 214). 1961 Geller said he used acid before the government classified it as an illegal drug (If I Can Dream. Hardcover page 149. Mass-market paperback p 148). Joe Esposito described being high, took LSD, and stated they were stoned quite often (Esposito, Good Rockin’ Tonight: Twenty Years On The Road And On The Town With Elvis. Hardcover pp 122-124). David Stanley said his friend introduced him to LSD (Stanley and Wimbish, Life With Elvis. Hardcover p 54). Red and Sonny West describe their experience with LSD. They blamed Elvis’s influence over them for dropping acid (Dunleavy, Elvis: What Happened? Mass-market paperback p 281). APPENDIX D ADMISSIONS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE AMPHETAMINES (TO GET UP) AND TRANQUILIZERS (TO CRASH) Joe Esposito took Dexedrine to wake up and tranquilizers to sleep (Esposito, Good Rockin’ Tonight: Twenty Years On The Road And On The Town With Elvis. Hardcover p 92). Red and Sonny West openly admit that from 1960 all through the period they were on movie locations, they were high most of their time on uppers. They graduated to stronger pills like Desbutal and Escotrol. Took tranquilizers like Valium to go to bed. Graduated to Placidly (Dunleavy, Elvis: What Happened? Mass-market paperback pp 189-192, 259. West, Elvis: Still Taking Care Of Business. Hardcover p 237). Priscilla Beaulieu’s suicide attempt. She planned on taking Placidyl to die. Obviously, she knew what the pills could do (Beaulieu and Harmon, Elvis And Me. Mass-market paperback pp 199-201). Trip to Las Vegas Sonny abused uppers. Also abused them for football (Dunleavy, Elvis: What Happened? Mass-market paperback pp 191-192. West, Elvis: Still Taking Care Of Business. Hardcover pp 76, 91, 204). Rick Stanley claimed when he joined the TCB crew he needed speed to keep his energy level up and downers to unwind (Stanley, Caught In A Trap. Hardcover p 134). APPENDIX D ADMISSIONS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE COCAINE David Stanley felt that one of the most exciting things about touring with this group was that it was so easy to get marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs (Stanley, Life With Elvis. Hardcover p 87). Elvis lectured David regarding his use of cocaine, but David realized Elvis didn’t know that he was on drugs himself. The difference was David took his for fun, Elvis never did (Stanley, Life With Elvis. Hardcover p 148). APPENDIX D ADMISSIONS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE HEROIN Rick Stanley became a heroin addict (Stanley, Caught In A Trap: Elvis Presley’s Tragic Lifelong Search For Love. Hardcover p  96). APPENDIX D ADMISSIONS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE MARIJUANA Larry Geller stated while he was Elvis’s guest in Memphis, he and his wife had a friend send him marijuana to the motel they were staying at. Got into massive trouble with the police (Geller, If I Can Dream. Hardcover pp 88-93. Mass-market paperback pp 84-88). Long before he even started working on the road for Elvis, Billy Stanley started abusing marijuana and alcohol (Stanley, Elvis My Brother. Mass-market paperback p 133). David Stanley was introduced to marijuana by his brother Rick Stanley (Stanley and Wimbish, Life With Elvis. Hardcover p 148). Elvis caught David smoking marijuana. David said Elvis was extremely upset about it (Stanley and Wimbish, Life With Elvis. Hardcover pp 96-97). Sonny West admitted to smoking marijuana (West, Elvis: Still Taking Care Of Business. Hardcover p 204). APPENDIX D ADMISSIONS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE OTHER Rick Stanley was so bad off that he took drugs nobody else would take with him, even though he was supposed to be taking care of Elvis (Stanley, Caught In A Trap: Elvis Presley’s Tragic Lifelong Search For Love. Hardcover pp 138). David Stanley had to make sure Elvis didn’t find out about his drug abuse (Stanley, Life With Elvis. Hardcover p 56). Rick Stanley after he was fired by Elvis got arrested in Memphis, Tennessee, for a fake prescription. He was booked and treated like any other prisoner even after being told he was Elvis’s stepbrother. Elvis saw to it that Rick checked into the Tennessee Psychiatric and Drug Rehabilitation Hospital of Memphis. Rick stayed ten days and then left against medical advice. Was able to muster up enough self-discipline and willpower to cut down on his drug intake (Stanley, Caught In A Trap: Elvis Presley’s Tragic Lifelong Search For Love. Hardcover pp 136-138). Back to Appendices APPENDIX D ADMISSIONS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE Caught in a Trap : Elvis Presley's Tragic Lifelong Search for Love BOOKS If I Can Dream: Elvis' Own Story Good Rockin' Tonight: Twenty Years on the Road and on the Town with Elvis Life with Elvis Elvis and Me Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business: Memories and Insights About Elvis Presley from His Friend and Bodyguard Elvis, My Brother/an Intimate Family Memoir of Life With the King