Well done, sir.
I was kind of hoping for a fiery response from Willie's camp over this whole ordeal, given the local redneck sheriff talking sh*t, but Willie being Willie, he seems to be positive about the whole thing.
Though his recent public statement shows Willie not to be the most savvy politico ("no" to Third Parties), it was a salient point that he made:
"There's the Tea Party. How about the Teapot Party? Our motto: We lean a little to the left," Nelson said. "Tax it, regulate it and legalize it, and stop the border wars over drugs. Why should the drug lords make all the money? Thousands of lives will be saved."
Thousands of lives saved? Pretty serious point there, considering that marijuana articles in traditional media seem to just be batting practice for hacks with puns. [I stand firmly with Jon Stewart: STOP THE PUNS ALREADY}
A bit of background for folks: this is Willie's third bust in five years. He got the charges reduced to misdemeanors in his Louisiana case. The latest on his Texas case:
Willie Nelson, who was arrested last week in Texas for having pot on his bus, has been charged with misdemeanor possession. Nelson was originally charged with carrying six ounces, a felony with a maximum sentence of two years in prison plus a $10,000 fine, but the amount was knocked down to four ounces, which carries a maximum penalty of one year and $4,000. (This is according to NORML'S website; TMZ claims that Nelson cannot be jailed on the misdemeanor charge.)
Mickey Raphael, Nelson's longtime harmonica player, told Rolling Stone on Saturday that the singer, who was released after posting a $2,500 bond, was doing fine after the bust: "He said he feels great — he lost six ounces." (Now we assume Nelson would say four.)
A top tweet from that day said "Willie Nelson busted with sex ounces of pot. in other news, God- who naturally produces the plant across the globe- is still at large. "
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..been a Willie fan since he put out that reggae album a few years ago. Most folks my age just know the guy for being a stoner, and forget that he's one of America's classic musicians. I saw that he was up for a Grammy in Cheers and Jeers a couple days ago. congrats, Willie.
---> I was going to link to TPM's post, but since Josh Marshall opposes marijuana, guess that might be something similar to irony, though not irony itself. Irony's cousin, perhaps.
**updated**
Regarding state cannabis laws: The Governator here signed a bill to change possession in CA to a $100 infraction that does not appear on your criminal record, which in a way was an attempt maybe to co-opt/derail Proposition 19 to legalize cannabis Nov 2nd. Conservatives in red america talk sh*t about California's liberal-ish approach to cannabis, but we have no use for the racist pot laws in much of the rest of the country.
Who else is kind of surprised that you don't get a felony for simple possession in Texas? I looked up laws there--
Possession:
* 2 oz. or less class B misdemeanor 180 days $2,000
* 2 to 4 oz. class A misdemeanor 1 year $4,000
* 4 oz to 1 lb. state jail felony 180 days - 2 years $10,000
* 1 to 5 lbs. state jail felony 180 days - 2 years $10,000
* 5 to 50 lbs. felony of the third degree 2 - 10 years $10,000
* 50 to 2,000 lbs. felony of the second degree 2 - 20 years $10,000
* More than 2,000 lbs. felony 5 - 99 years $50,000
Distribution/Sale:
* Gift of 1/4 oz. or less class B misdemeanor 180 days $2,000
* 1/4 oz. or less class A misdemeanor 1 year $4,000
* 1/4 oz. to 5 lbs. state jail felony 180 days - 2 years $10,000
* 5 to 50 lbs. felony of the second degree 2 - 20 years $10,000
* 50 to 2,000 lbs. felony of the first degree 5 - 99 years $10,000
* 2,000 lbs. or more felony MMS 10 - 99 years $100,000
But here's the catch: they ratchet up the penalties for multiple possession misdemeanors. So your second or third dub sack means county jail. So this means that texas is far from 'decriminalized' weed.