Country music legend Willie Nelson, 86 who has been a long time poster boy for marijuana has decided to lay off the stuff.

He recently told San Antonio’s television station KSAT that for health reasons, he no longer smokes marijuana.

“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 said in the interview. “I don’t smoke anymore. I take better care of myself today.”

Willie talked about his long history of smoking, saying he had “mistreated” his body since he was young, growing up in Abbott, Texas. He said, “I started smoking cedar bark, went from that to cigarettes to whatever.” Adding, “And that almost killed me.”

The country star smoked his first joint in 1954 and in August, Nelson was forced to quit six shows on tour due to “breathing issues.”

Keeping his lungs healthy is paramount, especially with performing, he said.

“Your lungs are the biggest muscle you have got. So when you’re out there working, you are working out,” Nelson said.

In May, Nelson told Rolling Stone that marijuana “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. And probably kept a lot of people from wanting to kill me, too — out there drunk, running around.”