Willie Nelson forms Teapot Party to advocate marijuana legalization
Willie Nelson's booking photo, Sierra Blanca, TX, November 26, 2010
In the wake of his recent arrest for possession of marijuana, country superstar Willie Nelson is starting a new political movement to further his advocacy of its legalization.
"There's the Tea Party. How about the Teapot Party?" Nelson proposed in an email to CelebStoner.com. "Our motto: We lean a little to the left."
The entertainer's bus was stopped at a routine checkpoint in Sierra Blanca the morning of Friday, November 26, and authorities smelled marijuana. Drug-sniffing dogs found six ounces of marijuana, and the border guards arrested Nelson. The 77-year-old musician was released four hours later after posting a $2,500 bond.
Nelson has been arrested multiple times for pot possession. In 2006 he was caught with 1.5 pounds of marijuana and three ounces of hallucinogenic mushrooms on his bus. He was also arrested in 1996 in Waco, Texas during a routine traffic stop when police noticed half a joint in his car ashtray.
This latest incident could lead to jail time. According to TMZ, an Austin-based attorney said that Nelson could get anything from six months to two years for his recent bust. Bruce Margolin, director of the LA chapter of NORML, said that Nelson should focus on trying to convince a jury that the marijuana was grown in California - where medical marijuana is legal - and that he simply forgot it was on his bus.
The legendary singer/songwriter remains unrepentant. Nelson has long taken the position that marijuana is not a drug, it is an herb imbued with natural properties and therefore should be legal. Now he has started a Facebook group for his new Teapot Party, which he hopes will have some political effect. As drug laws stand, more than half of all drug arrests in the US are for marijuana.
"The numbers tell the story; the enforcement of criminal marijuana laws and the prosecution of marijuana offenders, in particular minor marijuana possession defendants, is driving the present drug war," said Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML. "Those who claim otherwise would be better off advocating for a long-overdue reprioritization of law enforcement resources and concerns.
"It makes no sense to continue to prosecute Americans for their use of a substance that poses far fewer health risks than alcohol or tobacco," Armentano continued. "A better and more sensible solution would be to legalize and regulate cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol, as is presently being proposed in California by Proposition 19."
That's a position with which Willie Nelson concurs. "Tax it, regulate it and legalize it," he said in his email to CelebStoner. "And stop the border wars over drugs. Why should the drug lords make all the money? Thousands of lives will be saved."
Willie Nelson's booking photo, Sierra Blanca, TX, November 26, 2010
In the wake of his recent arrest for possession of marijuana, country superstar Willie Nelson is starting a new political movement to further his advocacy of its legalization.
"There's the Tea Party. How about the Teapot Party?" Nelson proposed in an email to CelebStoner.com. "Our motto: We lean a little to the left."
The entertainer's bus was stopped at a routine checkpoint in Sierra Blanca the morning of Friday, November 26, and authorities smelled marijuana. Drug-sniffing dogs found six ounces of marijuana, and the border guards arrested Nelson. The 77-year-old musician was released four hours later after posting a $2,500 bond.
Nelson has been arrested multiple times for pot possession. In 2006 he was caught with 1.5 pounds of marijuana and three ounces of hallucinogenic mushrooms on his bus. He was also arrested in 1996 in Waco, Texas during a routine traffic stop when police noticed half a joint in his car ashtray.
This latest incident could lead to jail time. According to TMZ, an Austin-based attorney said that Nelson could get anything from six months to two years for his recent bust. Bruce Margolin, director of the LA chapter of NORML, said that Nelson should focus on trying to convince a jury that the marijuana was grown in California - where medical marijuana is legal - and that he simply forgot it was on his bus.
The legendary singer/songwriter remains unrepentant. Nelson has long taken the position that marijuana is not a drug, it is an herb imbued with natural properties and therefore should be legal. Now he has started a Facebook group for his new Teapot Party, which he hopes will have some political effect. As drug laws stand, more than half of all drug arrests in the US are for marijuana.
"The numbers tell the story; the enforcement of criminal marijuana laws and the prosecution of marijuana offenders, in particular minor marijuana possession defendants, is driving the present drug war," said Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML. "Those who claim otherwise would be better off advocating for a long-overdue reprioritization of law enforcement resources and concerns.
"It makes no sense to continue to prosecute Americans for their use of a substance that poses far fewer health risks than alcohol or tobacco," Armentano continued. "A better and more sensible solution would be to legalize and regulate cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol, as is presently being proposed in California by Proposition 19."
That's a position with which Willie Nelson concurs. "Tax it, regulate it and legalize it," he said in his email to CelebStoner. "And stop the border wars over drugs. Why should the drug lords make all the money? Thousands of lives will be saved."
