Willie Nelson has stopped smoking weed.
I never thought I’d live to see the day that I’d write that sentence. He’s the only man who’s ever out-smoked Snoop Dogg. The man whose name is basically synonymous with smoking weed. Yet the legendary pothead confirmed recently that he’s given up smoking weed so that he can “take better care of himself.”
Take better care of himself? Hell, I’m 31 years old and I’ve always just assumed that Willie Nelson would outlive me, strumming on Trigger and sparking up joints long after the rest of us were gone.
Willie has been battling breathing issues in recent years, resulting in the cancellation of several shows and a large chunk of his latest tour. And in his performance with Kacey Musgraves at the CMA Awards last month, fans noticed that the 86-year old legend seemed to be having trouble catching his breath.
Willie admitted in an interview with KSAT that years of abusing his lungs have finally taken a toll on his health. “I started out smoking cedar bark, went from that to cigarettes to whatever,” he said. “And that almost killed me.”
Despite his health problems, Willie also had something to say about the speculation that he’s near death: “I don’t give a shit. I’m here, I’m glad to be here, I’m lucky to be here.” And the good news is that Willie says that he has no plans to give up touring anytime soon.
Now I’m just guessing here, but it’s probably safe to say that Willie hasn’t completely given up the marijuana for good. While he said he’s not smoking anymore, he didn’t say anything about edibles – and with his own brand of cannabis products called Willie’s Reserve, I’d say Willie still has a pretty good stash on his bus.
But at least for now, I guess Toby Keith was right: He’ll never smoke weed with Willie again.
