Willie Nelson Announces Virtual Cannabis Convention ‘Luck Summit: Planting the Seed’

Willie Nelson and Luck Presents have announced the virtual cannabis convention Luck Summit: Planting the Seed, kicking off April 26th.

Hosted by Nathaniel Rateliff, the first annual convention will benefit HeadCount’s Cannabis Voter Project, which aims to educate and register voters interested in cannabis policy. The event will examine the plant through science, history, culture, and entertainment – with panels, speakers, music, cooking, and more – with a mission to destigmatize and decriminalize cannabis.

“I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug,” Nelson said in a statement. “Marijuana is an herb and a flower. God put it here. If he put it here and he wants it to grow, what gives the government the right to say that God is wrong?”

Planting the Seed will stream from April 26th to Nelson’s birthday on April 29th. Tickets are donation-based; registration can be found here. The event is part of Luck’s “High Holidays” –  a nine-day celebration that kicks off fittingly on 4/20 through the 29th – that they’re currently petitioning to make a national holiday.

“Just like our landlord and patron saint of cannabis, Willie Nelson, we realize that changing anyone’s mind by telling them what to think is a fruitless endeavor,” Luck co-founder Matt Bizer tells Rolling Stone. “We believe that everyone has the right to their opinion and perspective. We also know that after years of stigmatization around the cannabis plant, it’s going to take all of us working together to help create a space for the discourse and education necessary to pave a path toward normalizing, decriminalizing, and giving access to cannabis and its many uses and benefits for the people of Texas and beyond. That is why we invite you to our first ever Luck Summit in celebration of something we all share a love for, Willie, and to hold space for this conversation.”

“We are creating a space to ask questions, provide solutions, collaborate, and educate our audience with some of the greatest minds in the cannabis industry,” adds co-founder Ellee Fletcher Durniak. “Essentially, we at Luck want to make sure Texas isn’t the last state to legalize and we understand that in order to work toward that goal, we need to help build the bridge toward legalization. State-wide and country-wide legalization won’t be the effort of one person, it’ll be the effort of all of us who are passionate about the plant. We are excited to put in the work.”