Nelson’s high life carries a drug charge

COUNTRY music star Willie Nelson and four others have been charged with possessing narcotic mushrooms and marijuana after his tour bus was stopped on a Louisiana highway.

The citations were issued after a commercial vehicle inspection of the bus, state police said in a statement.

“When the door was opened and the trooper began to speak to the driver, he smelled the strong odour of marijuana,” the statement said.

The search produced one-and-a-half pounds (680g) of marijuana and about three ounces (85g) of illegal mushrooms.

There were enough drugs to merit a charge of distribution if they had been found in one person’s possession, state police spokesman Willie Williams said. But all five claimed the drugs as their own and the drugs were not packaged for resale, so each was charged with misdemeanours.

Nelson’s publicist Elaine Schock declined to comment.

Nelson, 73, is famous for songs including On The Road Again and City Of New Orleans.