Justin Bieber Speaks Out Amid Marijuana Controversy: I'm "Trying to Be Better" 
 
 Justin Bieber is taking the high road. 
 
 After TMZ posted pictures of him smoking what appears to be marijuana, the "Beauty and the Beat" singer took to Twitter to address his millions of fans. 
 
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 "Everyday growing and learning. Trying to be better. U get knocked down, u get up," the 18-year-old pop star wrote on the micro-blogging site Jan. 5. "I see all of u. I hear all of u. I never want to let any of you down. I love u." 
 
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 Bieber didn't address the pot-smoking pics directly, but he did allude to facing "new challenges" and "new doubters." 
 
 "I'm ready. We are ready. See u all tomorrow and everyday after that," he tweeted. "Back on tour tomorrow. Ready to see u all smile. Time to do what I'm supposed to be doing. Performing." 
 
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 It's been an interesting week for the teen idol, to say the least. Earlier, a paparazzo was killed while trying to photograph the singer's Ferrari in Los Angeles. Bieber was not in the vehicle at the time but expressed his condolences for the photographer's loved ones in a statement. 
 
 "While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident," he said, "my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim." ||||| Justin Bieber Let's Be Blunt ... Whatcha Smokin? 
 
 Justin Bieber Smoking Weed?!?! Let's Be Blunt ... Whatcha Smoking? 
 
 EXCLUSIVE 
 
 kicked off the new year on a real high note -- clutching a smoldering blunt at a big party inside a Newport Beach hotel room this week ... and TMZ has the photos.The pics were snapped on January 2nd -- the day after a paparazzo was killed while trying to take photos of Bieber's Ferrari -- and it's pretty obvious ... Bieber wasn't feeling too bad about the whole situation.Sources at the party tell TMZ, Bieber's BFFwas there too -- the 19-year-old rapper who was driving the Biebs' Ferrari at the time the paparazzo was killed.According to sources, Twist and his brother were rolling all the blunts and smoking everyone up ... and there was a LOT of pot smoke.It's pretty ironic -- considering sources close to Bieber were insistent ... the photog who was killed lied when he said Justin was smoking weed hours before the fatal accident. And there's this -- we're told Bieber had security present ... but no one seemed to mind that people were snapping photos.As for talking points -- sources tell us Bieber was chatting it up about how tired he was because he'd been staying up late recently. Shockingly, we're told the conversation eventually turned to late night fast food ... and where they could get it.We're told a girl also crashed in the hotel room with Justin -- NOT Selena. It's unclear if they hooked up.Bieber's people had no comment. ||||| Add a location to your Tweets 
 
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– Caught laughing away and getting high on the day after a paparazzo died trying to snap shots of him, Justin Bieber semi-apologized on Twitter: "Everyday growing and learning. Trying to be better. U get knocked down, u get up," he wrote today. "I see all of u. I hear all of u. I never want to let any of you down. I love u." But in all fairness, the pop icon wasn't in his car when the photog got run down in Los Angeles, Us Weekly reports. See the happy-dope pics on TMZ, which notes that a girl ("NOT Selena") crashed with Bieber at a California hotel.