WHEN IT COMES TO MARIJUANA, WILLIE'S PUNISHMENT SEEMS TO VAPORIZE

What is it about Willie Nelson, weed and the law?

It's been a question worth asking since at least 1971, when Mr.
Nelson brought together rednecks and hippies at the Armadillo World
Headquarters in Austin with his unique style of country music and his
open attitude about marijuana. His eldest daughter, Lana, and his
former wife Connie said pot helped tamp down the rage; he had been a
mean drunk when alcohol was his drug of choice.

Mr. Nelson, 77, is perhaps America's best-known marijuana smoker. He
is co-chairman of the advisory board of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, has been a High Times cover boy and
famously smoked a joint on the roof of the White House when Jimmy
Carter was president. His disciples include the actor Woody Harrelson
and the country crooner Ray Price, his former employer -- each known
to have enjoyed a puff now and then. He is the inspiration for Toby
Keith's hit song "(I'll Never Smoke) Weed With Willie (Again)," which
testifies to the quality of Mr. Nelson's stash.

All that is part of Mr. Nelson's folklore. It's when he tangles with
law enforcement that things get interesting, though not necessarily
all that punitive.

Take his most recent bust. On Nov. 26, Border Patrol agents at the
eastbound Interstate 10 immigration checkpoint just west of the far
West Texas town of Sierra Blanca arrested Mr. Nelson inside his
touring bus, Honeysuckle Rose, after drug-sniffing dogs and the
agents' own olfactory acumen gave them reason to search. Six and
one-quarter ounces of high-grade, domestically grown marijuana were
discovered. Mr. Nelson was arraigned on a misdemeanor charge, posted
a $2,500 bond and went on his way. Afterward, he announced he was
forming a new political party, the Teapot Party.

Last week, C. R. (Kit) Bramblett, the Hudspeth County attorney,
announced that Mr. Nelson was going to have his day in court, telling
The Big Bend Sentinel, "I'm gonna let him plead, pay a small fine and
he's gotta sing 'Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain' with his guitar in the
courtroom." Mr. Bramblett added, "I ain't gonna be mean to Willie Nelson."

This week, Becky Dean-Walker, the Hudspeth County judge, said Mr.
Bramblett was joking; Mr. Nelson could dispense with the matter by
mail. Misdemeanor possession cases from the Sierra Blanca checkpoint
are typically settled with a plea, a $100 fine and $278 in court costs.

We've heard this song before. In the wee hours of May 10, 1994, two
highway patrolmen found Mr. Nelson sleeping in the back seat of his
Mercedes, parked on the southbound frontage road of Interstate 35
south of Waco, near the town of Hewitt. He had been involved in a
late-night poker game in nearby Hillsboro and got tired driving back
to Austin, so he pulled over to take a nap.

After he admitted to the highway patrolmen that the hand-rolled
cigarette in the ashtray contained marijuana and belonged to him, as
did a Baggie stashed under the driver's seat, he was arrested. He
lawyered up and canceled an appearance at the Grammys so he could be
in court. Before his trial, one of the patrolmen who arrested him was
fired on an unrelated charge of sexual harassment and left town. Mr.
Nelson was found not guilty by a McLennan County judge.

On Sept. 18, 2006, Mr. Nelson, his bus drivers, his road manager and
his older sister Bobbi were arrested at a commercial vehicle
inspection station on westbound Interstate 10 in St. Martin Parish,
La., while traveling from Alabama to Austin to attend the funeral of
Ann Richards, the former Texas governor. Authorities found one and a
half pounds of marijuana and one-eighth of a pound of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Mr. Nelson said the dope belonged to him and was for his personal
use. Seven months later, he canceled concert dates and had his bus
drivers take him from California back to Louisiana for his court
date. He was fined $1,024 and given six months' probation.

Mr. Nelson is not the voracious viper he once was. A collapsed lung
persuaded him to switch from joints to a carbon-free vapor delivery
system three years ago. But he does not lack for the substance when
he wants it. Every grower worth his product wants the stamp of
approval from Mr. Nelson, since "Willie weed" is considered the gold
standard by which all marijuana is judged.

By making a joke of possession and enforcement laws, Mr. Nelson has
done more to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of marijuana prohibition
than a hundred lobbyists or a thousand politicians could ever do.

Is he bulletproof? Above the law? Too hot to handle or incarcerate?
No. But he is Willie Nelson. If you're a law enforcement person, it
pays to know that before you start investigating that funny smell
emanating from Honeysuckle Rose.