As the hippy half of Cheech and Chong, a bizarro stoned Abbot and Costello, Chong became a pop pot icon along with Marin upon the release of their eponymous 1971 debut. The album of skits and songs included the classics “Dave”—with Marin as a dealer on the lam, begging his blitzed roommate to unlock the door for him—and “Cruising with Pedro de Pacas,” which also plumbs the theme of dumb druggies dodging cops. But the real-life law caught up with the real-life Chong two years ago for having invested in a business that sells bongs online. On parole now, he tells NEWSWEEK that he can’t do “The Marijuana-Logues” legally until he gets off probation. Still, even after his probation expires, he says, “I don’t feel comfortable because I’m trying to get my record expunged. I’d still be thumbing my nose at the government [that] just finished putting me in jail.”
MSGOP
I have a libertarian streak, and the War on Drugs is one of my many pet peeves. I don’t think Angel Dust should be legal, but it’s appalling effects have pretty much doomed its appeal without any meaningful governmental intervention.
Marijuana, on the other hand, has never been linked to anti-social behavior. And it is very good for the packaged sweets industry. If you smoke pot, have smoked pot, or wish that you could smoke pot without breaking the law, you should feel Tommy Chong’s pain. He’s given me enough laughs to assure that I will always be a big supporter. Why this man cannot participate in The Marijuana Dialogues is beyond me. And to see him sued for trying to abide by his absurd conditions of probation, is just Kafkaesque.
Take the poll.
that George W. Bush has dabbled in illegal drugs and still is happy to put younger people, who have not yet found Jesus, in jail for behavior he thought was perfectly acceptable in his youth.
War criminals get promotions, roam the streets freely (or in the case of Henry Kissinger, shuffle freely to their limousines)
An actor who sold an object that can be used to consume a plant that will, if allowed to, grow wild on those same streets is imprisoned, and stripped of his first amendment rights.
And in the spirit of capitalism, his employer sues him for refusing to exercise his first amendment rights, and thus getting sent back to prison.
War on Terror, War on Drugs.
Descendants of both Kafka and Orwell should sue the US government for intellectual property violations, and send the award to Tommy Chong.
succinctly expressed.
The Bush administration is clearly in violation of copyright law when it comes to both Orwell and Kafka.
Man, I love that album!
The control of pot by the feds is the greatest protectionist scam ever. Save the county, legalize and tax pot. Let’s see the liquor companies get behind that one.
Man, Tommy needs to start a legal relief fund.
why one of the poll questions was not do you smoke pot. I was thinking of doing this poll myself on a diary, but you beat me to it.
Legalize marijuana, I say, or at least make it not criminal.
Well, to me, there are only 3 categories. Those who have smoked pot. And these people have little right to demand the imprisonment of other people who have done the same.
Those who have not smoked pot.
And those who have been dissuaded from smoking pot only because they prefer to be law abiding citizens.
This last group is the group that the government seeks to grow through its anti-pot legislation.
uhh, what…a poll…whut poll…man…Oh,,wow man, I thought you said “roll” one man…wow,,now I gotta smoke this all by myself man….OK ; )
‘Looks like a toothpick, man.”
‘Man, it is a toothpick!’
uhhh, yah man,,,it’s the republicans, can’t afford a “fatty” ; (
eh, what was that bushie was saying about frivolous lawsuits again? This would basically cause someone to commit a crime if they went against their probation right…as you say truly a Kafka scenario going here….Isn’t Sunday supposed to be a day of rest and not a day where my head is going to explode with yet another fucked up story? By the way any bets that the producers just might be republican leaning….not saying someone who is a democrat wouldn’t file a stupid lawsuit but…..
And we can remember to thank Ashcroft for his zeal in capturing Tommy in The Great Terrorist Bong Plot can’t we..and what another waste of taxpayer money that whole fucked up mess was…
And as a sidenote: TC was in prison here in my own backyard….in my little redneck town here in central California.