Willie Nelson, 86, who has long preached the benefits of marijuana has STOPPED smoking pot - 65 YEARS after he rolled his first joint - to 'take better care of himself'
- Willie Nelson has had a number of breathing related health issues
- After smoking weed for decades Nelson says it has taken a toll on his health
- Nelson has long been a campaigner for the legalization of marijuana
- He smoked his first joint in 1954 but now tends to vape and use edibles
- Country superstar has no plans to stop touring and has lined up dates in 2020
Country icon Willie Nelson has said he is going to start taking better care of himself at the age of 86 after smoking pot for more than six decades.
The country music superstar is well known for smoking marijuana but stated in a recent interview that he has now stubbed out his joints for good.
'I have abused my lungs quite a bit in the past, so breathing is a little more difficult these days and I have to be careful,' Nelson told the San Antonio TV station KSAT.
![Willie Nelson has had a number of breathing related health issues and now says he has stopped smoking marijuana after consuming the drug for most of his adult life](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/12/04/01/21785736-7753275-Willie_Nelson_has_had_a_number_of_breathing_related_health_issue-a-4_1575422689643.jpg)
Willie Nelson has had a number of breathing related health issues and now says he has stopped smoking marijuana after consuming the drug for most of his adult life
![American country singer Willie Nelson takes a drag off a joint while relaxing at his home in Texas some time around 2000. A load of marijuana is spread out on the table before him](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/12/04/00/21785742-7753275-image-m-7_1575421007543.jpg)
American country singer Willie Nelson takes a drag off a joint while relaxing at his home in Texas some time around 2000. A load of marijuana is spread out on the table before him
![The country icon has long adored cannabis and referred to it in his book, Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die in 2012](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/12/04/01/21785744-7753275-The_country_icon_has_long_adored_cannabis_and_referred_to_it_in_-a-1_1575422689582.jpg)
The country icon has long adored cannabis and referred to it in his book, Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die in 2012
'I started smoking cedar bark, went from that to cigarettes to whatever,' he said. 'And that almost killed me.
'I don't smoke anymore — take better care of myself,' he said.
The On the Road Again singer has long spoken of what he sees as the medical benefits of pot and told Rolling Stone recently that he believes he is still alive today thanks to years of smoking marijuana.
'I wouldn't be alive. It saved my life, really. I wouldn't have lived 85 years if I'd have kept drinking and smoking like I was when I was 30, 40 years old. I think that weed kept me from wanting to kill people,' Nelson said during the interview with the magazine.
'It probably kept a lot of people from wanting to kill me, too — out there drunk, running around.'
Nelson actively promotes the use of the psychoactive drug. He smoked his first joint in 1954 but now tends to vape and use edibles.
A long-time campaigner for weed to be legalized, he co-chairs the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Years before weed was legal anywhere he would often speak about its medical benefits and even its economic potential.
'It's nice to watch it being accepted — knowing you were right all the time about it: that it was not a killer drug,' Nelson told Rolling Stone. 'It's a medicine.'
He is now one of a number of celebrities behind a cannabis-themed business venture according to NBC News.
Willie's Reserve, 'a premium cannabis lifestyle brand,' was launched in 2016.
![Nelson has long been a campaigner for the legalization of marijuana and posts about it on his Instagram pages](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/12/04/01/21785734-7753275-Nelson_has_long_been_a_campaigner_for_the_legalization_of_mariju-a-2_1575422689591.jpg)
Nelson has long been a campaigner for the legalization of marijuana and posts about it on his Instagram pages
![But after smoking weed for decades Nelson says it has taken a toll on his health](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/12/04/01/21785740-7753275-But_after_smoking_weed_for_decades_Nelson_says_it_has_taken_a_to-a-3_1575422689602.jpg)
But after smoking weed for decades Nelson says it has taken a toll on his health
The company sells a line of marijuana products that 'celebrate Willie's love of cannabis and the culture surrounding it.'
Nelson launched the company in collaboration with a New York-based private equity firm.
But years of smoking have taken a toll on his health and he has had to battle pneumonia and emphysema.
In his most recent interview, he brushed off rumors about his health.
'I don't give a f***! I'm here, I'm glad to be here,' he said.
![The country superstar has no plans to stop touring and has lined up dates throughout 2020](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/12/04/00/21785738-7753275-image-m-9_1575421030568.jpg)
The country superstar has no plans to stop touring and has lined up dates throughout 2020
Most watched News videos
- 'Heartbreaking day': Presenter pays tribute to colleague John Hunt
- Helicopter seen in hunt for Clifton bridge suspect in West London
- Moment a frustrated-looking Giorgia Meloni rolls her eyes at summit
- Lord Mandelson says Barack Obama should step in after Biden gaff
- Friend of Carol Hunt in tears paying tribute to slain mother
- 'If you've done your business!': BBC presenter's hilarious blunder
- Teenager who shook baby to death seen in video from police interview
- Police remove evidence from home of Enfield triple murder suspect
- Shocking moment migrants 'throw spears' at Polish border guards
- Boris Johnson dances with his son at Indian billionaire's wedding
- Private ambulance spotted near house of suitcase murder probe
- Freezing, falling and fumbling names: Biden's history of gaffes