In news that should shock literally no one, Willie Nelson loves weed. And now, the cannabis-loving country legend hopes to cash in on weed-related wellness. The only surprise here, if any, is that it’s taken until now for this to happen.
Nelson, a long-time marijuana advocate, has been in the commercial cannabis game for a couple of few years now—since 2015, his company, Willie’s Reserve, has sold branded bud, vapes, edibles, and more. Because it’s 2019 and we love #Wellness, the company has added a health-focused line called Willie’s Remedy, as Rolling Stone reported on Tuesday. Naturally, its first product is CBD coffee, sold for $36 a bag.
In case you’ve skated past CBD entirely (congrats), CBD, or cannabidiol, comes from cannabis plants. But unlike THC, which gets you stoned, CBD is non-psychotropic (in other words, won’t have you zoning out to a Pink Floyd blacklight poster for three straight hours). People are into it because it’s been said to offer relief from pain and anxiety—hence, the CBD coffee, cookies, and chocolates everywhere.
Instead of the lattes laced with CBD oil that are now commonplace at trendy coffee shops, Willie’s Remedy infuses whole beans with organic, American-grown hemp extract. An 8-ounce cup contains seven milligrams of CBD. Judging by a few guides online, that’s a pretty small dose, but that might be because it’s just meant to add a “balancing effect to coffee’s natural lift,” according to the product website.
Nelson isn’t just hopping on a trend—he’s actually been preaching the word of weed and wellness for years. “I think marijuana is probably the safest medicine that you can take,” Nelson told the Associated Press in 2017. In 2014, he publicly supported edibles as medical treatments during an interview in which he invited New York Times writer and notorious weed-freakout-haver Maureen Dowd to smoke with him. He’s supported marijuana legalization for even longer.
Willie’s Remedy adds to a big market of CBD drinks, but despite their popularity, it’s still not totally clear whether these products offer any scientifically-provable benefits—or do much of anything at all. The dosage in a typical CBD coffee is about 30 times less than the amount associated with stress relief, Vox concluded last year.
For the skeptics, Nelson said that the effects reach further than CBD’s purported benefits. “Hemp isn’t just good for our farmers and our economy, it’s good for our soil, our environment—and our health,” he told Rolling Stone in a statement. And as Nelson’s wife Annie, who runs Willie’s Remedy, told Rolling Stone, “It’s not about getting high, but it’s still all about Willie and the benefits we believe cannabis has to offer.” Eventually, CBD fans can also expect candies and topical creams.
We can all, probably, stand to be more chill, and if CBD might get us a little closer to Willie Nelson’s level, then sure—bottoms up.