Willie Nelson, one of the most recognizable names in country music and popular music in general, is someone most people have heard of. Whether you follow this genre or not, if you’re a marijuana enthusiast, you must have heard his name thrown around at least once in your life.
He’s not only a country star with an impressive career at 87 years old, but he’s one of the loudest activists who supports marijuana legalization. He’s an avid weed lover and is one of the few celebrities who are outspoken about their regular use of pot.
In this article, we’ll talk about this country music legend and his weed habits, his company, as well as his activism for the decriminalization of marijuana, so stick around if you want to know more about the Willie Nelson.
Willie Nelson’s Appeal
Before there were Snoop Dogg and Woody Harrelson (both of them his friends) who also talk about their love of weed and enjoy the stoner reputation, there was Willie Nelson, hailing from Texas and discovering pot as early as 1954, as he told Rolling Stone in 2019. Before smoking marijuana, he said, he used to drink heavily and smoke a lot of cigarettes (and even cedar bark), so it took a while for him to feel weed’s beneficial effects. Once he did there was no looking back.
This Texan is a charismatic figure loved by a lot of people. This could be attributed to his calm and relaxed demeanor that doesn’t clash with his strong work ethic. He has said that ever since he quit alcohol and smoking cigarettes, getting high on a daily basis has changed his life for the better and he’s much less worried and more patient than before.
Willie Nelson’s Weed Habits
From smoking pot on the White House roof with President Jimmy Carter’s son, Chip, to running to save a precious stash from his burning house in Nashville, once he decided to smoke weed, he remained faithful to his weed habits for several decades. Reportedly, he stays high all the time, taking moderate doses of cannabis. However, as it turns out, he doesn’t have a particular weed preference but years of smoking all kinds of pot have helped him develop good taste – when something is good, he can tell right away.
In the same Rolling Stone interview, he mentions the stash he used to store in his lunch box on the tour bus as a representation of his weed habits. The stash in question is a random mix of pot given to him by fans or thrown on stage. He’s happy to try whatever, but he seems to have a slight preference for Sativa. These days he usually eats edibles – marijuana chocolates or fruit chews produced by his own company – and he occasionally vapes.
Friends Who Smoke Together, Stay Together
Willie is known to have celebrity friends who are also marijuana enthusiasts, and not surprisingly, they have often smoked together. As per customs, there are a lot of anecdotes whenever friends get together to share a joint (or a tasty edible).
Rapper Snoop Dogg is a good friend of Nelson’s and a fellow supporter of weed use. Snoop Dogg is also known for his openness regarding weed use and he has often claimed that when it comes to smoking weed, his stamina is unsurpassed. However, back in 2018 when he was a guest at the Jimmy Kimmel show, he revealed that the only person who could out-smoke him is Willie Nelson.
Woody Harrelson is yet another celebrity who’s Willie’s friend. He is well known as an avid weed smoker and marijuana legalization supporter but decided to quit both smoking and vaping weed some years ago. He was firm in his decision and stuck to it diligently for about two years until a game of poker with his friend, Willie Nelson. Willie kept passing him the vape pen and he kept refusing until he couldn’t anymore, and he’s now back at regularly using weed.
Musician Jack Johnson even wrote a song about smoking pot and playing poker with Nelson called “Willie Got Me Stoned and Stole All My Money”. He debuted this song at the 2015 Farm Aid concert (a charity co-founded by Nelson), a couple of years after he and Willie met and hung out at his house.
Being an Activist and Supporting the Community
Willie Nelson is no stranger to activism about marijuana legalization. In fact, he’s been a marijuana advocate since before it became legal. Claiming that its medicinal properties have helped him personally, Nelson has been very vocal against marijuana use being punishable by law. He has frequently spoken about the medical benefits of marijuana and the economic potential of weed being taxed and made legal years before the mass public acknowledged its medical potential.
His activism has led him to a co-chair position in the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) advisory board whose aim is to legalize the responsible use of non-medical marijuana in the USA. The organization has celebrated its 50th anniversary in June 2020 with a series of extensive blog posts about collaborating with the people who have worked closely with NORML, including Willie Nelson.
“Willie’s Reserve” – A Forward-Looking Weed Company
One branch of Willie Nelson’s activism is his cannabis company called Willie’s Reserve. After the legalization of marijuana in several states back in 2015, Willie announced that he would be opening his own cannabis brand chain stores. Considering how openly he had expressed his attitude on marijuana in the past, the opening of these stores was not that big of a surprise.
The store’s slogan reads “My stash is your stash” and it resembles Willie himself – it’s innovative and diverse, just like his discography. The store offers an array of different cannabis products, including cannabis-infused chocolates and coffee, and fruit chews with a considerable amount of CBD. Clearly, the overall aim of the business is to be forward-looking and oriented towards the possibilities and opportunities that responsible weed use can bring.
When Willie Nelson Quit Smoking Weed
When Willie Nelson announced that he had decided to stop smoking pot it seemed to have stirred up the general public: Willie Nelson quitting smoking pot – it didn’t add up. In an interview with San Antonio television station KSAT, he declared that he did it to “take better care of myself”.
And indeed, it was only the most logical decision he could make, since he had suffered from pneumonia in the past which had caused his breathing problems. These were the consequences of years of cigarettes and alcohol abuse that had taken its toll years later.
However, that’s not to say that he had stopped enjoying marijuana, his bond with pot is far too strong for that. Instead, as we mentioned earlier, he takes marijuana in various different ways, whether through the edibles his company makes or by vaping.
Thankfully, nowadays there are more ways than one to enjoy cannabis, and marijuana edibles really seem to be slowly becoming a hit within the community. For all the pot enthusiasts out there, Mary Jane can hardly be replaced.
Final Thoughts
Willie Nelson is one of the most well-known celebrities who’s an open marijuana enthusiast. He has been an advocate for marijuana legalization for years and has used his influence to raise awareness for the benefits of smoking pot.
After marijuana became legal in several states, he started his own cannabis company that sells cannabis and cannabis-infused products in the states where pot is legal.
Even though he’s not the only person who is outspoken about his weed habits, he’s often associated with the cannabis culture. He had been smoking pot for decades, but due to health issues and breathing problems, he has stopped smoking and started taking edibles more often, and he occasionally vapes.
