Willie Nelson Says Maybe Attorney General Jeff Sessions Should Try Pot
Willie Nelson is a longtime advocate for marijuana, and in a new interview, he has an interesting suggestion for U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Sessions made headlines recently when he stated his belief that marijuana is "only slightly less awful" than heroin, which appeared to signal a reversal in the "War on Drugs." In recent years medical marijuana has become legal in many states, and even recreational use has been decriminalized in some, which advocates argue will free up court systems and prisons to deal with serious offenders.
Rolling Stone asked the country legend -- who has his own weed line, Willie's Reserve -- about Sessions' remark, and his reply was classic Willie Nelson.
"I wonder if he's tried both of them," he muses. "I don't think you can really make a statement like that unless you tried it all. So I'd like to suggest to Jeff to try it and then let me know later if he thinks he's still telling the truth!"
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Though Nelson has been busted for pot more than once over the years, he says he sees no downside to its use.
"I haven't run into any yet. I guess if you go somewhere where it's illegal, that's a pretty good downside," he quips.
Nelson's new album contains a barbed song titled "Delete and Fast-Forward" that is aimed at President Donald Trump, but the country icon expressed no personal animosity toward the real estate mogul when asked about him. Nelson has played gigs at some of Trump's casinos over the years.
"He always paid me. I had no problems at all," he states, adding, "I think he's stepped into a different world. Like he said ... 'I had no idea this job was going to be this hard.' It's easy when you can just go bankrupt anytime you want to and say, 'I'll check you later.' But that's hard to do when you're President of the United States."
Nelson sells "Wille Nelson for President" bumper stickers, but he says he has no interest in running for office.
"I think you can do more with music than you can with arguments and politics," he observes. "I think a song will reach more people than any other thing."
Nelson's most recent album, God's Problem Child, debuted at No. 1 after its release in April. The country legend will hit the road this summer for the Outlaw Country Music Festival Tour, which includes Bob Dylan, Jason Isbell, Sheryl Crow, Margo Price, the Avett Brothers, My Morning Jacket, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and more.
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