Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel were among the performers who gathered Friday night (Aug. 10) in Austin, Texas, for Austin Freedom Fest, a benefit concert for four pro-marijuana groups, including the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the Marijuana Policy Project. The event at the Backyard music venue was hosted by Mark Stepnoski, a former lineman for the Dallas Cowboys. In an interview with News 8 Austin, a cable news channel, Nelson said, “We would like to see [marijuana] put in the same category as cigarettes and alcohol … where we can take it out of the hands of the illegal drug dealers. Empty the cells of all the pot smokers and get them out of jail so you’ll have more room for the child molesters and pedophiles out there who they keep releasing to throw pot smokers in. … The law needs to be changed.” Nelson is co-chairman of NORML‘s advisory board.

~Courtesy of CMT