As Willie Nelson celebrates the release of his new book Letters To America, he has shared a new excerpt featuring a letter to an old friend entitled “Dear Cannabis”. Letters To America is out now via Harper Horizon and comes as Nelson’s first publication since his 2016 Christmas novel Pretty Paper.
In this latest excerpt from the country legend’s collection of essays to his fans, friends, and country, Nelson reflects on his longstanding relationship with the kind. Fans might be surprised to learn the Red Headed Stranger was a bit skeptical of cannabis when they first met back in 1954 on account of all the drug-related hysteria at the time. But just like millions of his fans, Willie Nelson eventually came around to pot and went on to become the icon he has today.
“Lots of folks said we were doing wrong, but I know love when I see it,” Nelson writes. “And I know that the seeds and flowers that were given to us from our creator aren’t any more illegal than the hops used to make beer or the grapes used to make wine.”
Nelson also addresses the dreadful rumor that he and cannabis had called it quits, noting that “I think you knew that you and I are a couple ’till the end.”
Listen to Willie Nelson’s letter to his sticky green friend “Dear Cannabis”, taken from his new book Letters To America, available now on his website and wherever books are sold.
Willie Nelson – “Dear Cannabis” (Letters To America)
[Video: Willie Nelson]