Marijuana,cheech&chong

Recently, Tommy Chong was wrongfully imprisoned by the United States government!!!!!!!! They have tried to arrest him over the years on many accounts do to his outspoken beliefs on marijuana! They arrested and convicted him on felony charges because he was selling bongs and pipes from a legit place of buisness. Prosecutors said Chong grew wealthy by glamorizing drug use and trivializing law enforcement in his films. He used his celebrity to promote his business with mail orders for bongs and other drug paraphernalia.

Tommy could really use your support. I have included his address at the prison here on this page. He has made us laugh over the years and has fought for our rights. So please send him a letter of encourgement. Thank you and leave some comments I'm interested in your point of view!


Thomas Kin Chong
07798-068
Taft CI
UNIT A, #4B
PO Box 7001
1500 Cadet Road
Taft, CA 93268

[Edited on Dec 14, 2003 by inkslinger26201]

[Edited on Dec 14, 2003 by inkslinger26201]

it figures

the day i watch "half baked" something else weed related happens.

don't worry about it, it happened awhile ago.

up in smoke and things are tough all over are two of my favourite films .

that sucks i didnt know about that

i don't agree with the way his case went down, but i don't think arguing about the validity of these sentences will help.

shit! people need to relaise that pot will be legal in the uk within 5yrs

it is in some of europe

On THE COMMIES, Cheech said that Chong has been a personal friend of the Governator for like 30 years, so his easiest way out is to get a gubernatorial pardon.

yo i thought they were gonna do a new movie, hollywood won't stand for his imprisonment if there's a movie to be made.

Gotta love Dubya and his boy Ashcroft the one who spearheaded it.

Why is pot illegal?
I don't get it.

Nixon and the viet-nam war, the government cant figure out how to regulate it and of course becuase it is a gateway drug

yah, it's the gateway to FUNSVILLE, USA!

http://www.freetommychong.org/

It's actually a fairly complex question.

I think a fair amount of it stems from Reagan's "war on drugs." Sure, pot was illegal before then too, but Reagan and his "drug czar" stepped up the rhetoric and the heat and began implementing mandatory minimum sentences for possession of small amount of marijuana, as well as selling it.

Conspiracy theories abound, and likely lots of them are BS. However, law enforcement agencies do employ lots of people, and no one wants to be the politician who is known for making these people lose their jobs. In addition, since constructing and running prisons has become privatized, they represent a large lobbying interest in Washington, and a quick and easy way to fill prisons, if the last two decades are any indication, is to crack down on victimless crimes like marijuana usage and prostitution. It's a quick and dirty way to score political points too - you can come across as being "tough on crime" and "helping the police" while creating a convenient scapegoat for all of society's ills.

In addition, there's a social element as well. There has been a relatively strong backlash in much of the United States (witness the phenomenon of the so-called 'Nascar dad') against the 60's counterculture movement and everything it represents. This includes Bill and Hillary Clinton, equal rights for people like homosexuals, sexual harassment and hate speech laws, and of course, marijuana usage. The rise to power of the socially conservative (some might even say, reactionary) neoconservative wing of the Republican party has given these individuals a strong voice in modern government. Any impetus to decriminalize marijuana thus encounters a swift and fierce backlash, fomented by conservative politicians and then strengthened by a perceived "outrage" amongst these individuals.

The irony of the whole thing, of course, is the questionable constitutionality of the government even regulating marijuana at all. Many of those who believe in strict enforcement of anti-marijuana laws call themselves "strict constructionists," or people who believe in a literal interpretation of the constitution. The somewhat flimsy (and the Supreme court has never ruled on its legality) justification the Federal government uses in using federal law enforcement agents to enforce drug laws is the clause in the constitution allowing the government regulation and taxation rights on interstate commerce. One wonders where interstate commerce comes into play with someone who grows and uses their own marijuana, but it hasn't stopped the Federal government from using their own law enforcement agencies to arrest individuals doing just this.

OK, that was longer than I initially intended.

Christ, what bullshit. What happened? Did Roy Cohn come back from the dead? Tommy Chong is about as big a threat to American youth as Shirly Temple. Some government dipshit gets a hardon to go after the drug trade and they pick Chong as the scapegoat. Is this the next witch hunt? Who's next George Carlin? Where's Cheech in all this?

It amazes me how the government always goes after the weakest and most sedate segments of the "drug problem". I don't smoke pot anymore and haven't in years. But I seen the effects of serious drugs on many friends. Marijuana is the Cheerios of drugs. It should of been legalized years ago. Hell, take out the criminal element and tax the shit out of it.

I met Tommy years ago while I was touring with my band. He saw us play in a shitty bar in South Bend, IN (what he was doing there, I have no idea) and came to see us at three more shows in Chicago. He got up and played a couple tunes at each show, but mainly he was there to hang out and have a good time. And the subject of pot or any other kind of drug rarely came up. In between sets and after the shows, he just hung out with us and talk about bands that he had jammed with and the music in general. He was just a cool guy.

This is the first time of heard about this. Tommy Chong is an icon. He doesn't deserve this. I say FREE TOMMY!

Thanks for all the good info.

Tommy never hurt nobody

hit the bong like cheech and chong

the gateway drug thing bothers me to no end.
sure, I've smoked up, I'm not proud of it, but I'll admit it.
but never did I consider messing with anything else.
in fact, some of my friends (this was back in freshman year) were about to do some coke or whatever and i didn't want any part of it....so I left.

i think they respected me more for leaving than they would have if i'd stayed and done some blow.

the gateway thing is a cop out.

a friend of mine is the buyer for a rather large "smoking accessories" chain down here.. his boss has been freakin' lately and having him move inventory to "secret" warehouse locations (ie not in his name) etc... Lotta shit going on in terms of investigations and pressure on people in that particular line of business...
The main excuse for Chong going down was internet sales and the supposed inability to enforce proof of age when buying over the net... a shitload of people got arrested the same day Chong did... he's the only one who went to prison,as far as I know, due to his name recognition....
I don't have a lot of use for weed (anymore), but I won't get into that here...
But it sucks Chong went down.. Cheech and Chong were a big part of my formative yearsand I always thought Chong was bad ass....

I have smoked a lot of pot in my life. However I stopped smoking pot and cigarettes years ago, and will not be smoking anymore. And as for you IrishLibra, why are you not proud of it, its not a dirty thing, the only thing wrong with pot moking is basically laziness, and a bit of dissasociation, and perhaps escapism. There is nothing to be"not proud of".
As for the marijuana legalization issue. It is one of the many issues that gets my blood boiling. It really brings out my rage a bit sometimes. It is fucked up and must change. Perhaps with everyones intent, and action...

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he is a legend

anyone really interested in supporting the cause for marijuana law reform you should look into helping NORML.

http://www.norml.org/


"The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oregon recently filed a complaint with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)"

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5862


PS. Ashcroft fucks babies and does coke.

[Edited on Dec 19, 2003 by whiterabbit]