Willie Nelson and President Barack Obama smoked a joint in the White House the other night. Not true.
What is true is that the iconic singer, known far and wide as a marijuana user, believes that the stresses of Washington, D.C., the Congress and, yes, the entire world could easily go up in smoke. Marijuana smoke.
Nelson also declared that President Obama "may be happy" that Washington, D.C., voters have legalized marijuana in the nation's capital, following in the footsteps of Alaska, Oregon and Colorado.
"I really think stress is the cause of a lot of our problems, and I really believe the best medicine for stress is pot," Nelson explained in a CNN interview. "Yeah, I think that would make us get along better--all over the world."
Nelson - who previously revealed he once smoked a joint on top of the White House after an appearance there during President Jimmy Carter's administration - performed Thursday night (Nov. 6) for veterans at the presidential mansion, according to the Washington Post. Prior to the event, the singer said that he probably wouldn't mention the subject of pot to Obama that night.
The president wrote about smoking pot in his book "Dreams of My Father."
"In 2012, Washington Post associate editor David Maraniss published a book detailing how Obama and his high-school clique smoked marijuana frequently enough to nickname themselves the 'Choom Gang,'" the Post reported.
Because of Obama's book and other reports, Nelson believes that the president is sympathetic to the use of pot.
"I think I realize how he feels about it and I've read some of his books and things about when he was a kid, how he may have delved into that matter a little bit," Nelson explained. "I'm sure he's very understanding of what is going on and he may be happy to see it happening."
As for the recent vote in Washington, D.C., almost 7 in 10 voters backed an initiative that would allow cannabis to be consumed and grown there. If Congress does not act to block it, residents and visitors 21 and older will be allowed to legally possess as much as two ounces of marijuana, in addition to being able to legally grow as many as three marijuana plants at home, according to the Washington Post.
