Willie Nelson, long known for his love of marijuana, is launching his own brand of weed called Willie's Reserve.
The Daily Beast, which interviewed the country music legend and followed up with brand spokesman and hemp lobbyist Michael Bowman, reported the development Thursday.
Bowman said that Willie's Resevre will launch its own stores in states that legally permit them to do so.
"In the next calendar year that there will be movement," Bowman said when asked when the first retail location will open. "As you can imagine, it's not a problem in states like Colorado, Washington, Alaska... There's a pretty clear path on where retail can go."
Bowman told The Daily Beast that he got to know Nelson when he and Nelson's wife, Annie, helped start the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance in 2005.
"This is a culmination of Willie's vision, and his whole life," Bowman said of Willie's Reserve, according to The Daily Beast. "I'm not sure any of us could have predicted how fast the dominoes would start falling once they started falling (as far as legalization). And you have the men like Willie who's been out there getting arrested, standing up saying what's right, and not wavering from that core."
Nelson, who in 2012 released a song called "Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die," has been arrested several times for marijuana-related violations, dating back to 1974, according to 94.5 KOOL FM in Los Angeles. He is an advocate for marijuana legalization and is a board member for NORML (The National Organization For The Reform Of Marijuana Laws).
