Willie Nelson Marijuana Strain and Stores in the Works

Willie Nelson Marijuana Strain and Stores in the WorksThe name Willie Nelson is virtually synonymous with marijuana. So it’s no wonder that the 81-year-old country super-star and long-time marijuana activist would lend his name to selling the stuff. Apparently during a recent interview with The Daily Beast Nelson let slip that he has a new brand of weed called Willie’s Reserve in the works.

Michael Bowman, a veteran hemp and pot lobbyist who serves as the emerging brand’s spokesperson tells the Daily Beast that in addition to selling weed, Nelson also plans on selling paraphernalia such as vaporizers and even opening marijuana stores. The first one is planned to debut in “the next calendar year that there will be movement. 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,” reports the Daily Beast. More from the interview with Willie’s rep:

So what exactly is Willie’s Reserve?
Well, you know, Willie has spent a lifetime in support of cannabis, both the industrial hemp side and the marijuana side. He wants it to be something that’s reflective of his passion. Ultimately, it’s his. But it was developed by his family, and their focus on environmental and social issues, and in particular this crazy war on drugs, and trying to be a bright light amongst this trail as we’re trying to extract ourselves from the goo of prohibition.

Really he wants it, at the end of the day, to envelop what his personal morals and convictions are. So from the store itself to how they’ll work with suppliers and how things are operated, it’s going to be very reflective of Willie’s life.

Wait, so there’s going to be stores?
Well, yeah, they’re in the making. I think it’s safe to say that there will be stores that roll out in the states where marijuana has become legal.

So will there be signature strains that you grow under Willie’s oversight? Or will you sell other people’s strains?
It’ll be both. There will be our own, and then there will be opportunities for other growers, who meet quality standards. Let’s just call it the anti-Walmart model. Personally, internally, that’s what we call it. A certain standard by which growers have to account for carbon and such, in a way that empowers small growers who are doing the right thing.

So you’ll also be a distributor of sorts.
It will be like when you walk into a Whole Foods store. Whole Foods has their 365 brand, or you can buy Stony Brook, or you can buy Horizon… It’ll all fall under that umbrella of “here’s our core beliefs, and here’s our mission statement,” and they will be a part of that, to be a part of us.

How many stores are you looking at opening?
That’s gonna depend… Right now, we’ll focus on the states where legalization has occurred, and as new states open up, those opportunities will present themselves on a state-by-state basis. Or until the feds do something!

Do yourself a favor. Get stoned and if you’ve never listened to Willie Nelson’s reggae album, Countryman that he released about a decade ago, give it a listen—it’s fuckin’ awesome. Below’s a track Willie cut with reggae legend Toots Hibbert.



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