The Time Willie Nelson Got High on the White House Roof

Anyone who claims that Willie Nelson has gotten high at the White House isn't just blowing smoke.

In the ‘70s, as the story goes, the country music legend lit up on the White House roof. But more than three decades later, Nelson likes to play coy when asked about his high times at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. When Jimmy Kimmel had him on his show in March, he tried to convince Nelson to verify the tale.

“I’ve heard that,” Nelson said. “I hear that once you get up all the streets are coming at you from different directions.”

“And you have to do something to calm down,” Kimmel added.

Quipped Nelson, “I would think so. If it ever happened, I would have to calm down.”

The marijuana activist, who has been arrested on at least four occasions for possession, was more forthcoming about the event in his 1988 autobiography:

Sitting on the roof of the White House in Washington, DC, late last night with a beer in one hand and a fat Austin Torpedo in the other. My companion on the roof was pointing out to me the sights and layout of how the streets run in Washington … I let the weed cover me with a pleasing cloud … I guess the roof of the White House is the safest place to smoke dope.

Although Nelson declined to name his companion, his biographer, Joe Nick Patoski, says the incident took place in September ’78 with “one of the Carter boys.” Most likely Chip, who at the time had become involved with NORML (the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws).

For what it’s worth, Nelson, now 82, thinks the entire country would benefit if more Washingtonians lit up every once in a while.

Marijuana “would help people in D.C. get along,” he told CNN in November. “Well, I really think stress is the cause of a lot of our problems, and I really believe that the best medicine for stress is pot. Yeah, I think it would make us get along better all over the world.”