Willie Nelson has never been shy about his love of marijuana. But in a 2019 interview with Rolling Stone for the magazine's weed issue, the legendary singer-songwriter shared how the drug actually saved his life.
Nelson said cannabis helped him calm down and is the reason he's alive today.
"I wouldn't be alive. It saved my life, really. I wouldn't have lived... if I'd have kept drinking and smoking like I was when I was 30, 40 years old," Nelson said. "I think that weed kept me from wanting to kill people. And probably kept a lot of people from wanting to kill me, too — out there drunk, running around."
Nelson said weed helped him quit smoking cigarettes and drinking excessively.
"I haven't smoked a cigarette since. I haven't drank that much either, because one will make me want the other — I smoke a cigarette, I wanna drink a whiskey. Drink a whiskey, want a cigarette. That's me. I can't speak for nobody else," Nelson told Rolling Stone.
The Red Headed Stranger also shared his thoughts on drug laws and people who are serving time in prison for possession of marijuana.
"A lot of it is because people get in there who don't even have the bail money to get out," he says. "Let those guys out and start working and paying taxes."
Read More: 6 Funny Stories About Celebrities Smoking Weed with Willie Nelson
The country icon had recently introduced Willie's Remedy, a line of CBD-infused coffee (which doesn't contain THC, the intoxicant compound in marijuana). The coffee is part of Nelson's cannabis company, Willie's Reserve.
Other headlines from 2019 rightly reported that the Country Music Hall of Fame member had stopped smoking marijuana. Don't forget that there's other ways to enjoy weed, so Nelson didn't exactly go cold turkey.
This story originally ran on April 30, 2019.
Now Watch: The Western That Starred The Highwaymen
