Merle Haggard: Marijuana Legalization Could Save The Economy

For Merle Haggard, weed isn’t just an inspiration for his songs with Willie Nelson but a fight worth standing for in the United States.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, both Florida and Tennessee are trying for medical marijuana but under strict conditions. New York is the same, with only certain hospitals able to act as dispensaries. But Alaska is trying to follow in Colorado’s steps by making recreational marijuana legal again.

But Merle Haggard’s marijuana smoking was apparently something he was ordered to do:

“I’m a cancer survivor, I had a lung operation in 2008 and they took out a piece of my lung, I was ordered to use marijuana,” Haggard says. “Either that or take a bunch of medication that I didn’t want to be hooked on. We are about to see marijuana take on a different standing. Even if nobody ever smoked it, the industrial reasons for its legalization are overwhelming and people are realizing that could save our economy, if they look at the truth.”

American businessmen would agree. It’s believed that marijuana business opportunities will be the next great American industry. Some people also say it could help the government’s budget woes a little since a marijuana tax could bring in about $6.4 billion a year.

But what about some of Haggard’s songs like Okie From Muskogee? After all, it includes the line “we don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee” so you’d think he wouldn’t support legal pot. Merle says that in order to be a good song writer you have to write about conditions you may not agree with. So in 1968 that was the condition of the day although he doesn’t agree with the mentality. He also disagrees with people who claim there are serious side effects to regular marijuana smoking:

“People talk about marijuana making you forget things. Forget things? How come Willie Nelson can sing for hours and not forget a thing?”

Still, not all stars agree that marijuana legalization is a good idea. For example, you might be surprised to hear Lady Gaga claims pot is addictive:

“I have been addicted to it and it’s ultimately related to anxiety coping and it’s a form of self-medication and I was smoking up to 15 or 20 marijuana cigarettes a day with no tobacco. I was living on a totally other psychedelic plane, numbing myself completely. I just want young kids to know that you actually can become addicted to it, and there’s this sentiment that you can’t and that’s actually not true.”

What do you think about Merle Haggard advocating legal weed?