NELSON'S DRUG BUST NATIONAL NEWS STORY

Willie Nelson made a brief stop in Acadiana early Monday and left with
less than he came with, after a Louisiana state trooper seized
marijuana and mushrooms from the country music legend's tour bus.

Trooper Willie Williams, spokesman for Louisiana state police, said
authorities seized a pound-and-a half of marijuana and two-tenths of a
pound of hallucinogenic mush mushrooms from Nelson's tour bus after it
was stopped just east of Breaux Bridge on Interstate 10.

After The Daily Advertiser broke the story at theadvertiser.com
Monday, a media frenzy quickly followed, bringing national attention
to singer's run-in with State Police. Nelson, 73, a country music hall
of famer and strong advocate for the legalization of marijuana,
appears to have been heading back to his home in Texas from a Sunday
night show with country music legend Ray Price in Montgomery, Ala.

Williams said a trooper with the criminal interdiction unit stopped
Nelson's tour bus for a routine commercial vehicle inspection and
immediately smelled marijuana when he climbed on board the bus.

Normally, the amount of drugs would solicit felony charges and an
arrest, but Williams said Nelson and four others on the bus all were
cited with simple possession charges because each claimed the drugs
were for personal use.

Nelson's publicist, Elaine Schock, declined to comment.

Also cited on the bus were [redacted]

Williams said that by 3 p.m., he had fielded phone calls from at least
12 TV stations and 20 newspapers across the country.

"I can understand that this man is a legend, per se, in country music,
but this is a small amount of drugs," Williams said. "This is pretty
much a daily thing for the guys that do this kind of thing. I've
actually tripled my telephone and interview inquiries for a day."