Travis Barker reveals health scare which made him quit smoking weed
Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has revealed why he decided to quit smoking marijuana.
Travis Barker quit smoking weed because of a pre-cancer diagnosis.
The Blink-182 drummer had ideas of smoking marijuana into old age "like Willie Nelson", but a health scare forced the rock star to curb his habit at a time he was smoking 10 to 15 blunts a day.
He told the Big Bro with Kid Cudi podcast: "I only quit because I got diagnosed with precancer of the oesophagus.
"I loved blunts and I would smoke too much."
The 50-year-old musician admitted he "never would have stopped" if his doctor hadn't told him things were "serious".
He recalled: "He’s like, ‘This is your warning shot. Don’t f*** around. You’ve got to stop smoking.'"
Travis added: "I thought I could be like Willie Nelson and smoke to the day I die."
The What's My Age Again hitmaker admitted he does "miss" smoking weed, but he's found that running is a good outlet to replace his cravings, and also helped him overcome his opioid and prescription painkiller addictions.
He said: "I've found even however many years later now, 20 years later, couple miles a day keeps the demons away.
"My running started getting bigger and more important to me than smoking."
Meanwhile, last month Travis - who has son Rocky, three, with wife Kourtney Kardashian as well as Alabama, 20, Landon, 23, and stepdaughter Atiana, 27, with ex Shanna Moakler - was hospitalised after experiencing numbness in his hands since a gig in September.
Taking to Instagram, he shared a shot of Kourtney, 47, smiling next to him as he lay in a hospital bed, dressed in a blue gown and surgical cap, and wearing a wristband and a blood pressure monitor on his arm.
He wrote: "I had surgery yesterday.
"My arm, hand and fingers have been numb since a show I played last month.
"I did a nerve test Monday after my show and turns out I needed a cubital tunnel release to fix the nerve. (sic)"
The procedure is "used to treat cubital tunnel syndrome", which happens when patients have a "pinched nerve at their elbow (ulnar nerve) and typically complain of numbness in the small finger and sometimes the ring finger", according to OrthoInfo.
Travis added: "I wanted to get ahead of it and get it over with so that I can keep playing the way I play for a long long time.
"Should be good in a few weeks (sic)."
