11. A Georgia arrest led to his first attempt to quit drugs
In the biopic I Walk the Line credit for helping Johnny Cash quit abusing amphetamines was given to June Carter, with the aid of her mother Maybelle and other members of the Carter Family. Little is said about the efforts of a Georgia sheriff named Ralph Jones, who as sheriff of rural Walker County knew his constituents well and had a no-nonsense approach towards crime and criminal behavior in his jurisdiction, which in 1967 included zero tolerance for illegal drugs. Jones was also a fan of Johnny Cash when the singer was arrested by one of his deputies that year, for trespassing, public intoxication, and possession of a significant amount of prescription drugs. Cash also attempted to bribe the arresting officer into letting him go free.
Jones went to see the troubled singer in his cell in the county jail in Lafayette, Georgia, and after a long talk during which the sheriff tried to get Cash to face his drug issues, gave him back his money and drugs, dropped the charges, and sent Cash on his way with the warning that whether Cash lived or killed himself was strictly up to him. He prophesied that if Cash didn’t seek help for his addictions, the latter would be the inevitable result. Cash later wrote that the Georgia sheriff saved his life, and thanked him face to face on national television. He later returned to Lafayette to perform a benefit concert, raising $75,000 for the athletic program for the local high school, and remained in touch with the sheriff for years after.