In perhaps the least surprising news of the day, Willie Nelson has shared his plans to launch his own brand of marijuana. Aptly titled Willie's Reserve, the new venture will capture the musician's lifelong passion of the cannabis and hemp culture. Michael Bowman, a pot lobbyist who will function as the brand's representative, spoke to The Daily Beast recently about the announcement. "He wants it to be something that's reflective of his passion," Bowman said about the brand.
"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," he said.
The plan is to have Willie's Reserve be available in stores where marijuana is legal. The singer's strain will be the flagship product with opportunities for other growers to sell their products, as long as they were grown under Willie's standards. Bowman likened the model to an "anti-Walmart" line of thinking, using Whole Foods as an example.
"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," he said.
The timeline for opening stores is still unclear. Currently, Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington have legalized weed for medical and recreational use.
Nelson shared his thoughts on the possibility of national legalization in November.
"I think [it will happen] once people have realized ... how much money there is in it," he said. "Colorado and some of those other states have shown the people already that it's a very lucrative business. So I think it won't take long before the rest of the states come around."
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