While he’s definitely not an advocate for the use of hard drugs, Willie Nelson is a big supporter of marijuana. He shares with Parade magazine, “Legalize weed. It’s 50% of what’s causing the problems along the border with the drug cartels. A lot of people who sell it want to keep it illegal because that’s where the money is. The cartels are now in hundreds of our cities, growing and selling weed. Legalize it, and it would stop all that immediately.” Having cut down on drinking alcohol lately, Nelson admits, “There are many bands that are not here anymore because of the drugs and alcohol. I know a lot of singers who have ruined their careers drinking and drugging.” Someone very close to Willie, in fact, suffered the effects of drug addiction; his son, Billy, hanged himself on Christmas Day in 1991. Billy was 33 years old. While Willie is distraught over the great loss of a son, he also has mentally turned it into something positive. Nelson reveals, “Death is not the ending of anything. I believe all of us are only energy that becomes matter. When the matter goes away, the energy still exists. You can’t destroy it. It never dies. It manifests itself somewhere else.” He adds, “We are never alone. Even by ourselves, we are not alone. Death is just a door opening to somewhere else. Someday we’ll know what that door opens to. I believe that. I really do.”