Willie Nelson hasn't actually quit weed, spokeswoman clarifies

Willie Nelson, one of the world's most famous proponents of marijuana and ganjapreneurs, surprised a lot of people when he told San Antonio's KSAT-12 TV last week that he has stop smoking weed. "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, 86, told Paul Venema aboard his tour bus. "I started smoking cedar bark, went from that to cigarettes to whatever," he added. "And that almost killed me. ... I don't smoke anymore."

This is like "like Michael Jordan retiring from the NBA," said Page Six's Oli Coleman. "It's like Donald Trump quitting Twitter. It's like Lindsay Lohan forsaking drama. ... Nelson has allegedly smoked weed on the roof of the White House, has credited the drug with saving his life, and his personal stash was so powerful that it inspired the Toby Keith song, 'I'll Never Smoke Weed With Willie Again.' Neither, apparently, will anyone else."

But there are different ways to consume pot besides smoking it, Nelson spokeswoman Elaine Schock told The Associated Press on Wednesday, and Willie avails himself of such alternative forms of weed ingestion. "That said," she added, "Willie does what he wants, when he wants, when it comes to smoking."

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Nelson told KSAT he has no plans to give up touring, and he his bothered by rumors of his imminent demise. "I don't give a sh-t — excuse me," he said. "I'm here, I'm glad to be here, I'm lucky to be here."