Editing Ike Turner (section)

=== Legal problems and drug addiction ===
In 1960, Turner and two others were charged for "interstate transportation of forged checks and conspiracy."<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 7, 1960 |title=Band Leader Indicted in Bad Check Swindle |pages=8A |work=St. Louis Globe-Democrat}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hunter |first=Bob |date=June 10, 1960 |title=Ike Turner Charged In Check Deal |pages=1 |work=The St. Louis Argus}}</ref> Turner plead not guilty and was forced to stand trial in St. Louis.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 22, 1960 |title=Two Deny $33,394 Check Forging Spree |pages=12A |work=St. Louis Globe-Democrat}}</ref> The jury failed to reach a verdict at the first trial, but he was found not guilty at the retrial in 1961.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 3, 1960 |title=Jury Deadlocked In Ike Turner Case |pages=5D |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=January 13, 1961 |title=Ike Turner Is Freed By Jury On Check Charge |pages=1 |work=The St. Louis Argus}}</ref>

In 1974, Turner and three others were arrested for using illegal [[blue box]]es at Bolic Sound studio to make long-distance phone calls.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=May 2, 1974|title=Turner Says He's Innocent Of Telephone Abuse Rap|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uI8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53|magazine=Jet|volume=46|issue=6|pages=53}}</ref> He was cleared of the charges.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 8, 1974 |title=Singer Cleared In Phone Fraud |pages=2–A |work=The Miami Herald}}</ref><ref name="Kiersh-08-1985" />

Before the age of thirty, Turner did not use drugs or drink alcohol.<ref name="Christian-10-2008" /> He would fire anyone in his band who used any substances.{{Sfn|Turner|1999|p=135}} Turner was first introduced to cocaine by "two very famous people" he had been working with at the International Hotel in Las Vegas.<ref name="Becker-1990" />{{Sfn|Turner|1999|p=135}} Producer D'Angela Proctor alleged in Turner's ''Unsung'' documentary that the two famous people were [[Elvis Presley]] and [[Redd Foxx]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pendleton |first1=Tonya |title=D'Angela Proctor Talks Ike Turner 'Unsung', Reveals Who Introduced Him To Cocaine |url=https://blackamericaweb.com/2015/06/02/dangela-proctor-talks-ike-turner-unsung-reveals-who-introduced-him-to-cocaine/ |website=Black America Web |access-date=August 20, 2019 |date=June 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609013424/https://blackamericaweb.com/2015/06/02/dangela-proctor-talks-ike-turner-unsung-reveals-who-introduced-him-to-cocaine/ |archive-date=June 9, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Penrice-2015" /> He took the cocaine home and tried it one night while writing songs at the piano.<ref name="Christian-10-2008" /> Turner said he liked the reduced need for sleep the drug gave him, which allowed him to write more music.{{Sfn|Turner|1999|p=136}} By the early 1970s, he was heavily addicted to the drug, buying it in large quantities and sharing it with friends. Turner later estimated that he had spent $11&nbsp;million on cocaine.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/2007/12/19/ike-turner|title=Ike Turner|date=December 19, 2007|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=November 4, 2019|issn=0013-0613}}{{subscription required}}</ref> His addiction caused a hole through his [[nasal septum]], the pain of which he relieved by using more cocaine. He eventually began [[freebasing]] [[crack cocaine]].<ref name="Dougherty-1990">{{Cite web|last=Dougherty|first=Steve|date=September 3, 1990|title=Soul Star on Ice: Divorced by Tina, Ike Turner Pays for His Romance with Cocaine in a California Prison|url=https://people.com/archive/soul-star-on-ice-divorced-by-tina-ike-turner-pays-for-his-romance-with-cocaine-in-a-california-prison-vol-34-no-9/|access-date=March 2, 2021|website=People|language=en}}</ref><ref name=Christian-10-2008 />

By the 1980s, Turner's finances were in disarray and he owed the state of California $12,802 in back taxes.<ref name="Kiersh-08-1985" /> He later settled his account. He had tried to sell his studio Bolic Sound to raise funds to avoid [[foreclosure]], but the studio burned down on the day a potential buyer was scheduled to view it in January 1981.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 22, 1981 |title=Fire Razes Turner Recording Studio |pages=C7 |work=The Fresno Bee}}</ref><ref name="Kiersh-08-1985" />

During the 1980s, Turner was arrested multiple times for drug and firearm offenses, which resulted in two convictions.<ref name="Dougherty-1990" />

* In 1980, a [[SWAT]] team raided his Bolic Sound studio, finding a live [[hand grenade]] and seven grams of [[cocaine]]. Turner received his first conviction for cocaine possession. He was sentenced to thirty days in the L.A. county jail with three years [[probation]].<ref name="Kiersh-08-1985" />
* In April 1981, Turner was arrested for shooting a 49-year-old newspaper delivery man. He accused the man of assaulting his wife Ann Thomas and of kicking his dog. Turner said he only fired a shot to scare him off and that the man had injured himself when he climbed over the fence to get away. A jury [[Acquittal|acquitted]] Turner of assault in 1982.<ref name="Kiersh-08-1985" />
* In June 1985, Turner was arrested and charged with conspiracy to sell $16,000 worth of cocaine, possession and maintaining a residence for selling or using a controlled substance.<ref name="Lakeland-28-06-1985">{{cite news|title=Ike Turner Released From Jail|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19850628&id=ue8vAAAAIBAJ&pg=1777,4664336|access-date=February 27, 2012|newspaper=Lakeland Ledger|date=June 28, 1985|author=Lakeland Wire Services}}</ref> The police took $1,000 worth of rock cocaine from his [[North Hollywood]] apartment. Record producer Eddie Coleman Jr. and music company writer Richard Lee Griffin were also arrested and charged. Turner was released on a $5,000 bond.<ref>{{cite news|title=Drug Charges Filed Against Musician Ike Turner|url=https://apnews.com/6e039c64bda556d671a25e5e75aa432b|work=AP News Archive, Jun. 27, 1985|access-date=February 27, 2012|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>
* In 1986, Turner was arrested for cocaine possession, [[concealed carry]] of a handgun and traffic violations; he was released on bail.<ref name="Jet-27-01-1986">{{cite magazine|title=Ike Turner Arrested on Cocaine Charge in Calif.|magazine=Jet|date=January 27, 1986|volume=69|issue=19|page=9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NrMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA9|access-date=February 27, 2012}}</ref>
* In January 1987, Turner was arrested for trying to sell 10 ounces of cocaine to an undercover police officer; he pleaded not guilty.<ref name="AP-1-3-1987">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Not Guilty Plea on Drugs|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/03/us/not-guilty-plea-on-drugs.html|access-date=October 2, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 3, 1987}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
* In May 1989, Turner was arrested on drug charges in West Hollywood. He was convicted of [[cocaine intoxication]] and driving under the influence of cocaine in January 1990.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-17-me-522-story.html|title=Ike Turner Gets 4 Years on Cocaine Convictions|date=February 17, 1990|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}{{subscription required}}</ref> The next month he was sentenced to four years in prison.<ref name="AP-2-17-1990">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=4-Year Sentence for Ike Turner|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/17/us/4-year-sentence-for-ike-turner.html|access-date=October 2, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 17, 1990}}{{subscription required}}</ref> He was released on parole in September 1991 after completing 18 months of his sentence at [[California Men's Colony]] in [[San Luis Obispo]].<ref name="Philips-05-09-1991">{{cite news|last=Philips|first=Chuck|title=Will They Still Like Ike? : Turner Nervous About Restarting His Pop Career|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-05-ca-2496-story.html|access-date=February 27, 2012|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=September 5, 1991}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="Jet-9/23/91">{{cite magazine|date=September 23, 1991|title=Ike Turner Released From Prison, Returns To Music And 'Appreciates' Tina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rsDAAAAMBAJ&q=twanna+melby+turner&pg=PA37|magazine=Jet|volume=80|issue=23|page=37}}</ref> Larry Kamien, associate warden of the California Men's Colony, said Turner was a model inmate.<ref name="Philips-05-09-1991" /> In prison he became a trustee working in the library and saved $13,000 by selling cigarettes, candy bars, and coffee to other inmates.<ref name="Jet-9/23/91" /><ref name="Miserandino-10-3-2011">{{cite web|last=Miserandino |first=Dominick A. |title=Ike Turner |url=http://thecelebritycafe.com/interviews/ike_turner.html |work=The Celebrity Cafe.com 12–99–99 |access-date=October 3, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115022308/http://thecelebritycafe.com/interviews/ike_turner.html |archive-date=November 15, 2011}}</ref>

Turner managed to break his dependency on cocaine while in prison and remained clean for more than ten years. He visited high schools during [[Black History Month]] to speak against [[Substance abuse|drug use]].<ref name="Pareles 12-13-2007" /> While trying to help an acquaintance from crack addiction at a [[crack house]] he [[relapse]]d in 2004.<ref name="Christian-10-2008" />