WWE's 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Tells a Story About His First Brush With Medical Marijuana

During his iconic run in the 1990's Stone Cold Steve Austin single-handedly influenced the number of beer drinkers in America. But he won't be doing the same for the marijuana industry.

In a recent episode of the Steve Austin Show, The Texas Rattlesnake shared a story about medical grade marijuana that almost ended in disaster.

"Man, one time we [were] driving through [the Sierra Blanca check station] and I had a person, this was back before they were selling [cannabis] to anybody in California, but you could get it for medicinal reasons and I figured, I said, 'man, what if I tried something' because I've been in the [pro] wrestling business for, s—t, damn near my whole life. I've been retired, but I still consider myself part of the business, so I figured, 'do you know what? Instead of drinking, what if I had a joint to smoke?'"

Austin admitted he'd tried weed before but it was never really his thing.

"The times I had tried to smoke dope way back in the day, I didn't like it because dope just always made me feel kind of dumb and when I'd said something, I'd think, 'does that sound stupid or not?' and it just brought me down, so dope never was my thing. I was an alcohol guy. I liked whiskey, tequila, vodka, beer. I could go on and on. You know I can go on and on and on. I was the damn drinking guy, so when I tried to smoke dope, I didn't like it, but I figured, 'okay, let me try to back off some of the alcohol,'" he said.

Despite not having a great history with the plant, Austin decided on this occasion, marijuana was better than drinking.

"On our camping trip, when Kristin and I pulled over, we do our thing. She sets up the inside of the camper. I hook up the electricity, the sewer, the water. I do all the outdoor stuff, so I figure, 'while I'm setting all of my s—t up, I can take a couple of tokes off of this joint and just kind of have a buzz while I'm setting everything up.' And in that way, I'm not pounding the alcohol down," he said. "So I got this one f—ing medicinal marijuana cigarette, a joint if you will, in a prescription bottle container and it was in the bathroom of our RV. One f—ing joint! One skinny f—ing joint and that motherf—er smelled up the whole goddamn inside of that camper!

However, Austin's paranoia manifested in the form of a roadblock.

"And all-of-a-sudden, we're coming up on Sierra Blanca and I'm figuring, 'aw, s—t! They're running those Belgian Malinois over there. Yeah, and those dogs are smelling tires, and trunks, and license plates, and all kinds of stuff. And I'm sitting there thinking, 'boy, I've got that white-knuckle fever going on my damn steering wheel.' And I'm thinking, 'man, here I am, retired from the [pro] wrestling business, a global icon and a national treasure, and I'm about to get busted for f—ing one joint because I wanted to try out a goddamn marijuana cigarette, so I could get away from the booze!'" he said.

With the camper reeking of weed and Austin under the effect of THC, talking to authority figures was the last thing he wanted to do.

"We go through there, the dude looks at me and I look at him. We've been passing through there for 10, 15 years. I've been passing through my whole damn life and they knew who we are and we always say 'hi' to them. But anyway, on this occasion, since I'm carrying… If you put a joint on a scale, this isn't one of [those] Freebird joints that Michael Hayes was famous for rolling way back in the day that weighed about a pound. This was a f—ing medical joint, smaller than a pencil. It probably weighed about two grams. I'm figuring, 'oh s—t, man. We're going to get… what would that be? That would be a misdemeanor, but it'd be on my f—ing record and the last thing I want to do after all the bulls—t I survived in the business of pro wrestling, was to get busted for goddamn possession of a f—ing controlled substance. They waved us through. And as they waved us through, I breathed a sigh of relief. My biggest fears were behind me,: he said.

Austin decided to give his joint another try that night, but even with no cops around, the WWE Hall of Famer couldn't enjoy himself.

"We ended up, I think, in Van Horn, Texas that night. We only went a few more miles, about 100 more miles, and we set up the camper, and I was out there taking my three hits off my little pile of s—t joint. And I got a little buzz and I figured, 'do you know what?' I knocked on the camper and Kristin stuck her head out. She goes, 'what?' I said, 'can you make me a f—ing martini? This joint ain't worth a s—t!' So that was my foray into the marijuana world! It ain't my cup of tea, but we were s—tting bricks. That was the smelliest joint I ever smelled in my life. If smoking dope is your thing, hey, more power to you. It really isn't my cup of tea. I'd rather have a margarita, vodka, bloody mary, whatever! Anything but a goddamn joint!"

[H/T Wrestling Inc.]