On Tuesday, April 20 (420), cannabis connoisseurs, including Willie Nelson, lit up to celebrate all things weed, and now he’s petitioning to get the day recognized as a national holiday.

420 supposedly traces its origins back to the early 70s in California when a handful of friends in high school would use the code of 420, referencing the time they would meet after school to smoke pot.

And now Willie Nelson, the most famous octogenarian pot-advocate to date, is petitioning to get 420 recognized as a National Holiday.

61st Annual GRAMMY Awards - Producers & Engineers Wing 12th Annual GRAMMY Week Event Honoring Willie Nelson
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Willie Nelson, who has never shied away from a good toke, has been known to support the legalization of marijuana and has also been jailed for being in possession of the leafy herb.

El Pasoans are all too familiar with the story of when Nelson was jailed at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint back in 2010, where he was busted with a little under 7 ounces of weed and ended up spending some time in jail and released after paying a fine.

Jail time and fines haven’t prevented the musician from celebrating or trying to educate people about the benefits of marijuana as a whole while helping to erase the stigma that surrounds the cannabis culture.


Willie Nelson, along with the Texas-based concert team Luck Reunion, calls on President Joe Biden to make the unofficial marijuana holiday of April 20 a legitimate national week of celebrating cannabis.

The petition made out to the President and the US Congress reads,

"The fine people of Luck, Texas, and supporters of the great Willie Nelson, on behalf of cannabis users around the nation, are writing today to ask you to consider declaring the nine days spanning April 20 to April 29 an official national holiday: the ‘High Holidays."

Why all week? Well, Nelson’s birthday lands on the 29th of April, making for a week-long celebration of his birth and all things Maryjane.

While having a legitimate national day of marijuana is cool and all, the real reason the petition came about was to open the lines of communication that will put an end to the negative stereotypes and stigmas of marijuana use.

The petition goes on to say:

Please puff, puff, and pass this to your friends in Congress for consideration.

And ends with a quote from Willie Nelson saying:

I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is an herb and a flower. God put it here. If He put it here and He wants it to grow, what gives the government the right to say that God is wrong?

To sign the petition, visit: CHANGE.ORG

 

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