Willie Nelson and The Magic Bus

Pot poster boy Brother Willie was issued a citation for possession of wacky weed in Louisiana.

"When the door was opened and the trooper began to speak to the driver, he smelled the strong odor of marijuana," the news release said. A search of the bus produced 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana and 0.2 pounds of narcotic mushrooms, according to state police.

Willie might want to take some precautions during future trips to Louisiana. A third or subsequent offense increases the penalty to up to 20 years in prison, absurd as it seems.

Pot smokers are arrested in the US at a rate of one every 40 seconds. From the report:

Police arrested an estimated 786,545 persons for marijuana violations in 2005, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. The total is the highest ever recorded by the FBI, and comprised 42.6 percent of all drug arrests in the United States.

Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 88 percent some 696,074 Americans were charged with possession only.

The remaining were charged with "sale/manufacture." I have yet to understand how growing a natural plant constitutes manufacturing (as opposed to an unnatural plant.)

crossposted at B3