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| Willie Nelson lights up. |
Nelson was heading back home from California with about six ounces of marijuana when the bust went down.
A couple of questions, please.
Why on Earth would the U.S. Border Patrol search the Honeysuckle Rose in the first place?
What was the U.S. Border Patrol expecting to find when the agent stepped on the bus, undocumented aliens? Terrorists?
It's a cheap bust. Everybody knows Nelson is America's most beloved pothead, everybody knows he carries as he moves across the country. But, there's no harm, no foul, no violence, no thievery, no fraud, no invasion of another's life or security. It's a 77-year-old national treasure simply moving from one place to another, a troubadour singing his songs and playing his guitar to the delight of crowds both young and old.
Besides, does anybody in America really care if Nelson -- or, anybody else, for that matter -- smokes a joint any more?
Fifteen states -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, plus the District of Columbia -- have already passed measures that allow for medicinal marijuana. Some have decriminalized recreational use to a minor offense. Others still like to put the hammer to smokers.
When will this cultural persecution end?
Bill Clinton smoked. So did George W. Bush. So did Barack Obama. In his memoirs, Ronald Reagan talked about smoking weed a couple of times just because he was curious about it. I suspect Jimmy Carter probably toked on a spliff or two over the years.Yet, these guys all seemed to go on to gainful employment.
In January, members of Nelson's entourage were stopped in North Carolina and cited for possession of weed and moonshine.
Seriously, who cares?
Don't the cops have better things to do than hit somebody with criminal charges for something so passive?
Ask any cop on the street and they will tell you they would rather deal with somebody who has smoked a joint than a drunk who often would rather fight than deal with the situation at hand.
The point here is, of course, that Willie Nelson should not walk simply becauase he is Willie Nelson. We've seen a lot of weird stuff happen because of celebrity over the years. Nobody, regardless of their recognition factor, should be let off the hook. We are all accountable, whether we are a member of the Dallas Cowboys or Willie's Family Band.
But pot charges, these days, are ludicrous, particularly since we know that, well, there are many more dangerous substances out there than marijuana.
But, the hypocrisy at play is remarkable.
I remember when singer Rob Thomas wanted to throw his support behind Hillary Clinton during her run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. The week he was to join the campaign he was featured in High Times magazine. Clinton said, "Thanks, but no thanks." Think she ever inhaled? Bet she did, yet it just wouldn't do to have a current pothead support a former pothead.
The American public distanced itself from reason back when it decided decades and decades ago that the only people who smoked pot were the Mexican migrants about 70 years ago. They reloaded their anti-pot guns when they learned the black jazz musicians of the day toked up, too. It did a lot of damage to a lot of careers, including the effervescent Louis "Sastchmo" Armstrong, who had to overcome a bust.
Richard Nixon tried to expel John Lennon from the United States because of a cannabis conviction and his "radical politics." George Harrison, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and numerous other rock'n'roll icons had to sweat out getting into the country at one point because they had convictions.
It was all part of the War on Drugs.
But, it was a selective War on Drugs.
You may recall the CIA's active poppy trade during the Vietnam War.
