After having spent decades (and a few days in jail) as one of the world’s most famous users of marijuana, Paul McCartney claims that he has given it up. In a new interview, he says that he quit in order to be a better role model to his descendants.

“I don’t do it any more,” he tells the Daily Mirror. “Why? The truth is I don’t really want to set an example to my kids and grandkids. It’s now a parent thing.”

According to numerous histories about the Beatles, McCartney was first turned on to pot in August 1964, when Bob Dylan visited them in their New York hotel room (although George Harrison said they first tried it in Hamburg). In July 1967, the Beatles were among many members of British society who signed their names to an advertisement in the Times calling for the legalization of marijuana, declaring that the “law against marijuana is immoral in principle and unworkable in practice.”

He notes that there’s a difference between his life then and now, adding, “Back then I was just some guy around London having a ball, and the kids were little so I’d just try and keep it out of their faces.”

So what does McCartney, who turns 73 in June, do for a buzz these days? “Instead of smoking a spliff I’ll now have a glass of red wine or a nice margarita. The last time I smoked was a long time ago.”

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