Add Melissa Etheridge to the long list of musicians who've been busted for marijuana. The singer-songwriter was nabbed at the U.S. border in North Dakota on Aug. 17 after her tour bus was pulled over and Customs agents found a vape pen in her carry-on bag.
Kathy Bates, who plays dispensary owner Ruth Whitefeather Feldman on Netflix's "Disjointed," appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Oct. 6. She discussed getting stoned with Bill Maher, vape pens and the show's cannabis consultant, Dr. Dina 420.
So far in 2017, there have been 13 celebrity drug arrests, including singers Melissa Etheridge, Todd Rundgren, Yvonne Elliman; rappers Chief Keef, Shock G and Young Thug; NFL players Demetrius Harris and Trevone Boykin; NBA player Zach Randolph; and comedian Artie Lange.
So far in 2017, many well-known musicians have passed away, including Chuck Berry, Tom Petty, Gregg Allman, Glen Campbell, Chris Cornell, Walter Becker, Chester Bennington, J. Geils, Al Jarreau, Butch Trucks, Cuba Gooding, Joni Sledge, Prodigy, James Cotton, Larry Coryell, Col. Bruce Hampton, Dave Hlubek and David Peel.
Heidi Grossman-Lepp, wife of marijuana activist Eddy Lepp, was arrested on Oct. 3 by the Yuba County Sheriff's Office on charges of producing and cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, and suspicion of conspiracy.
Two days after he did a fake-toke gesture while wearing a Legalize It t-shirt when throwing out the first pitch at the Pirates' final game of the 2017 baseball season, rapper Wiz Khalifa reminded people, "When you invite me you know that's what you're inviting. I stand for pot."
Hugh Hefner, who passed away on Sept. 27, was a major benefactor to various causes, including marijuana legalization. His Playboy Foundation provided hundreds of thousands of funding dollars to NORML in the '70s.
Despite adult-use legalization in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Washington, DC, marijuana arrests rose nationally in 2016 by 1.5%, according to the FBI's latest Uniform Crime Report.
In her new magazine "Goop," Gwyneth Paltrow says about marijuana, "I've tried it, and yes I inhaled!" She joins Amanda Seyfried, Kelly Clarkson, Jane Fonda and Stevie Nicks on this list.
First Dr. Sanjay Gupta, then Dr. Mehmet Oz, who hosts a daytime talk show on Fox. Both reversed their opinions about medical marijuana in 2014. Now Dr. Oz says, "People think it's a gateway drug to narcotics. It may be the exit drug to get us out of the narcotic epidemic."
