Well, its official: hell has frozen over, the fat lady has sung, and Tommy Chong has quit smoking pot. Apparently after you smoke weed everyday for 50 years and then are forced to quit cold turkey when youre thrown in prison, you lose your taste for it. Hopefully that will never happen to me. I got a chance to talk with Chong about his time in prison, his new book The I Chong which lays out his philosophies and whether or not he thinks Cheech Marin has sold out.
Buy The I Chong: Meditations from the Joint
Daniel Robert Epstein: What are you up to today?
Tommy Chong: Just doing a television show, like an MTV type. Then Im going to be doing a reading tonight.
DRE: Have you ever written a book before?
TC: I havent written a book. Ive written movies and light comedy but never a book.
DRE: How do you like doing the readings?
TC: I love it. Im a standup comedian so you get people sitting and looking at you and it is like they are waiting for me to do a line. I still do standup all the time with my wife, Shelby so its like that.
DRE: What made you decide to write the book?
TC: Well, Im a writer. I write constantly, its like a dog chews on a bone. Ive got that great obsession. I met a great editor, Trish, at Simon & Schuster and she asked me if I had anything written and I said no so they asked Do you want to do a book? and I said Sure. They asked do you have anything written? I said Ive got a ton written but it is no boo. She said send me everything and I sent it to her and she just took out the obvious and left in the not obvious.
DRE: Do you feel like its really your philosophies that you got down in the book?
TC: Absolutely. Its all mine. I never had a ghost writer. Every word was written is my words, my thoughts, my feelings. I think thats why its being so well received, because it doesnt read slick. It just reads like some stoner wrote it.
DRE: Was the I, Ching a big influence on your book?
TC: Yes. I did it just hour ago. I do it constantly. Its a way of life basically.
DRE: When did you get into that?
TC: I got into that many years ago back in the 60s. Then I left it alone for a long time and then when I was in jail I picked it up again because you have the time. Now Ive been doing it ever since.
DRE: How was the time in prison?
TC: Its crowded especially because therere so many Republicans going in there. Its all white-collar. I think the jail was built for Nixons Watergate Crew. So other than that, therere a lot of real nice people in there, a lot of drug related people in there, people who are doing ridiculous amounts of time for growing pot.
DRE: Yeah, its outrageous and what they did to you was absolutely outrageous.
TC: Well it was and it wasnt. It gave me the martyr hat to wear for a while and I loved it. I love it, still do. Ill keep this jacket on for as long as I can. People always ask hey, whereve you been? Im like Oh, Ive been in jail. A bunch of people locked me up. Even when they know Im not talking about, I talk about it. The thing is I didnt do anything illegal. We were licensed by the state of California to do the glass company. Theres nothing written anywhere that says you cant make glass water pipes. The only thing that we did illegal was a technicality where we were sending them through the mail to Pennsylvania. Only two states in the Union enforce that law because its not only unenforceable but unconstitutional. We had some water pipes in an art show so technically we were shipping art objects across the state line. But what they said is theyd put my son and my wife in jail if I didnt cooperate and I couldnt even take that chance. I dont want the US government treating my son like they treated that Chinese guy that was supposed to be a spy, but they put him in solitary confinement for a year. So I had no choice but to plead guilty. I only got was nine months so everything happens for a reason.
DRE: How did you get treated by the other prisoners?
TC: Like the famous comedian I am. I think they played a Cheech and Chong movie every month I was there. There was always people asking me for pictures and signing autographs. It was like going to jail with my fans for nine months. The warden of the main prison, met me and for him it was like meeting a movie star. He shook my hand said Youre our famous guy. How are you doing? Are they treating you well? We were trying to get him to release a kiln that we had at the warehouse because we were making pottery at the time and I wanted to fire it up but they wouldnt let me fire anything up.
DRE: So it wasnt like it was in Half Baked then?
TC: Not at all, except I became a squirrel master. I ended up having squirrels as my pets. They would just climb up your clothes for food.
DRE: Do you feel that you were specifically targeted because of your fame?
TC: Sure do, 12 million dollars, Operation Pipe Dreams. I found out today that only [Chris Hill] from Chills [Pipes] went to jail for a year but that was his second offense. But the only guy that went to jail was me and it wasnt my company. It was my sons company. I would have gone to trial because I wanted to challenge the charge of marijuana. When studies dont come up with what they want, they keep saying well we need to do more studies. They still cant find anything wrong with pot. It should not be illegal, it should be treated as what it is, a medicine. But because it grows wild the pharmaceutical companies cant put their label on it. If someone could put a patent on pot it would be legal today.
DRE: Is the idea of marijuana ever being fully legal in the United States much farther off now?
TC: No, once the Democrats take control of Congress and you get a decent president in there, Im quite sure that the medical aspect of it all will override a lot of their concerns because its not like its a non-approved thing, they approved it in San Francisco and Los Angeles, anywhere theres compassionate medical marijuana. To tell you the truth, I dont smoke anymore. I quit smoking. I quit more than two years ago. I was in jail and after probation I tried it and the feeling was gone.
DRE: So they cured you?
TC: No, they didnt cure me. There was no sickness. I had more trouble quitting coffee than quitting smoking pot. I know they didnt want me to stop smoking because the government kept offering me weed when I was in jail. They wanted to violate me so they could keep me under the iron bars for a few more years. Snitches would offer me weed and then they would drug test me almost immediately after they thought I would have been smoking it. It happened more than a few times. They drug-tested me more often than most potheads. It was a political bust. They wanted me. They wanted me to violate. I had to call the police. I was doing a play called The Marijuana-Logues and I had to quit because I was on probation. Probation is when youre in jail but they let you out the big house. There was people smoking pot in the audience and when youre on probation it says that if you see a crime and dont report it, you violate your probation. I wasnt afraid of jail, I was just afraid of the probation.
DRE: How did you like doing The Marijuana-Logues?
TC: It is great. I have my own material that I use. I use a little bit of theirs but a good 70-80% is mine. Its hysterical and goes over really well.
DRE: Do you think youll do it again now that your probation is over?
TC: I sure will. Ive just been doing generally a television pilot and some personal appearances.
DRE: Whats the pilot?
TC: This one MTV show had this one electric low rider car of mine on. I wanted to do a pilot based on that electric car and about global warming. Im trying to form a company that will turn luxury cars into electric cars like the Volvos and Ferraris and Maseratis. Theyre hobby cars and they dont get driven everyday. When you have an expensive gas motor theres a lot of upkeep and a lot of liquids in there. But when you have an electric motor, theres no upkeep. Theres nothing to do but change the windshield wiper fluids.
DRE: Im required to ask if you and Cheech are talking about doing another movie.
TC: We were as close as the script being turned down. We had a deal in place at New Line but Cheech wanted professionals. In other words, he didnt want to work with my wife, my wife couldnt be in the movie, I couldnt direct the movie, I couldnt write the movie. It had to be written by a professional so I just went ahead and wrote my version anyway.
I started working on a play and thats what Im working on right now. Id like to see Cheech and Chong on Broadway but with a cast of new young blood.
DRE: Do you feel like Cheech has sold out?
TC: Beyond that. I think hes moved beyond selling out. I think he evolved out. He went another level. He grew up. I never grew up you see. I was fully formed by the time we did Cheech and Chong. But he was a kid when he did Cheech and Chong.
DRE: Growing up isnt necessarily a bad thing though.
TC: No, not at all. It is like The Eagles wanting to play some jazz when they go on tour or Jerry Garcia not wanting to do to do his Grateful Dead songs because he grew up. Cheech grew into another form. Hes an art expert and he goes out with a comedy group where he does, I guess its comedy. He does real adolescent, straight, white-bred shit and unfortunately Im still stuck in the same Cheech and Chong mode that Ive been in all my life.
DRE: I think thats a good thing.
TC: I think so too. Cheech wants to be a dramatic guy. God bless him for having ambition but the way I look at it is there are a lot of good dramatic Spanish actors out there, but theres not enough funny Cheechs. I would do anything to have Cheech be funny again. Serious shit bores me. Theres enough serious shit going on in the world but theres not enough humor in the world.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy The I Chong: Meditations from the Joint
Daniel Robert Epstein: What are you up to today?
Tommy Chong: Just doing a television show, like an MTV type. Then Im going to be doing a reading tonight.
DRE: Have you ever written a book before?
TC: I havent written a book. Ive written movies and light comedy but never a book.
DRE: How do you like doing the readings?
TC: I love it. Im a standup comedian so you get people sitting and looking at you and it is like they are waiting for me to do a line. I still do standup all the time with my wife, Shelby so its like that.
DRE: What made you decide to write the book?
TC: Well, Im a writer. I write constantly, its like a dog chews on a bone. Ive got that great obsession. I met a great editor, Trish, at Simon & Schuster and she asked me if I had anything written and I said no so they asked Do you want to do a book? and I said Sure. They asked do you have anything written? I said Ive got a ton written but it is no boo. She said send me everything and I sent it to her and she just took out the obvious and left in the not obvious.
DRE: Do you feel like its really your philosophies that you got down in the book?
TC: Absolutely. Its all mine. I never had a ghost writer. Every word was written is my words, my thoughts, my feelings. I think thats why its being so well received, because it doesnt read slick. It just reads like some stoner wrote it.
DRE: Was the I, Ching a big influence on your book?
TC: Yes. I did it just hour ago. I do it constantly. Its a way of life basically.
DRE: When did you get into that?
TC: I got into that many years ago back in the 60s. Then I left it alone for a long time and then when I was in jail I picked it up again because you have the time. Now Ive been doing it ever since.
DRE: How was the time in prison?
TC: Its crowded especially because therere so many Republicans going in there. Its all white-collar. I think the jail was built for Nixons Watergate Crew. So other than that, therere a lot of real nice people in there, a lot of drug related people in there, people who are doing ridiculous amounts of time for growing pot.
DRE: Yeah, its outrageous and what they did to you was absolutely outrageous.
TC: Well it was and it wasnt. It gave me the martyr hat to wear for a while and I loved it. I love it, still do. Ill keep this jacket on for as long as I can. People always ask hey, whereve you been? Im like Oh, Ive been in jail. A bunch of people locked me up. Even when they know Im not talking about, I talk about it. The thing is I didnt do anything illegal. We were licensed by the state of California to do the glass company. Theres nothing written anywhere that says you cant make glass water pipes. The only thing that we did illegal was a technicality where we were sending them through the mail to Pennsylvania. Only two states in the Union enforce that law because its not only unenforceable but unconstitutional. We had some water pipes in an art show so technically we were shipping art objects across the state line. But what they said is theyd put my son and my wife in jail if I didnt cooperate and I couldnt even take that chance. I dont want the US government treating my son like they treated that Chinese guy that was supposed to be a spy, but they put him in solitary confinement for a year. So I had no choice but to plead guilty. I only got was nine months so everything happens for a reason.
DRE: How did you get treated by the other prisoners?
TC: Like the famous comedian I am. I think they played a Cheech and Chong movie every month I was there. There was always people asking me for pictures and signing autographs. It was like going to jail with my fans for nine months. The warden of the main prison, met me and for him it was like meeting a movie star. He shook my hand said Youre our famous guy. How are you doing? Are they treating you well? We were trying to get him to release a kiln that we had at the warehouse because we were making pottery at the time and I wanted to fire it up but they wouldnt let me fire anything up.
DRE: So it wasnt like it was in Half Baked then?
TC: Not at all, except I became a squirrel master. I ended up having squirrels as my pets. They would just climb up your clothes for food.
DRE: Do you feel that you were specifically targeted because of your fame?
TC: Sure do, 12 million dollars, Operation Pipe Dreams. I found out today that only [Chris Hill] from Chills [Pipes] went to jail for a year but that was his second offense. But the only guy that went to jail was me and it wasnt my company. It was my sons company. I would have gone to trial because I wanted to challenge the charge of marijuana. When studies dont come up with what they want, they keep saying well we need to do more studies. They still cant find anything wrong with pot. It should not be illegal, it should be treated as what it is, a medicine. But because it grows wild the pharmaceutical companies cant put their label on it. If someone could put a patent on pot it would be legal today.
DRE: Is the idea of marijuana ever being fully legal in the United States much farther off now?
TC: No, once the Democrats take control of Congress and you get a decent president in there, Im quite sure that the medical aspect of it all will override a lot of their concerns because its not like its a non-approved thing, they approved it in San Francisco and Los Angeles, anywhere theres compassionate medical marijuana. To tell you the truth, I dont smoke anymore. I quit smoking. I quit more than two years ago. I was in jail and after probation I tried it and the feeling was gone.
DRE: So they cured you?
TC: No, they didnt cure me. There was no sickness. I had more trouble quitting coffee than quitting smoking pot. I know they didnt want me to stop smoking because the government kept offering me weed when I was in jail. They wanted to violate me so they could keep me under the iron bars for a few more years. Snitches would offer me weed and then they would drug test me almost immediately after they thought I would have been smoking it. It happened more than a few times. They drug-tested me more often than most potheads. It was a political bust. They wanted me. They wanted me to violate. I had to call the police. I was doing a play called The Marijuana-Logues and I had to quit because I was on probation. Probation is when youre in jail but they let you out the big house. There was people smoking pot in the audience and when youre on probation it says that if you see a crime and dont report it, you violate your probation. I wasnt afraid of jail, I was just afraid of the probation.
DRE: How did you like doing The Marijuana-Logues?
TC: It is great. I have my own material that I use. I use a little bit of theirs but a good 70-80% is mine. Its hysterical and goes over really well.
DRE: Do you think youll do it again now that your probation is over?
TC: I sure will. Ive just been doing generally a television pilot and some personal appearances.
DRE: Whats the pilot?
TC: This one MTV show had this one electric low rider car of mine on. I wanted to do a pilot based on that electric car and about global warming. Im trying to form a company that will turn luxury cars into electric cars like the Volvos and Ferraris and Maseratis. Theyre hobby cars and they dont get driven everyday. When you have an expensive gas motor theres a lot of upkeep and a lot of liquids in there. But when you have an electric motor, theres no upkeep. Theres nothing to do but change the windshield wiper fluids.
DRE: Im required to ask if you and Cheech are talking about doing another movie.
TC: We were as close as the script being turned down. We had a deal in place at New Line but Cheech wanted professionals. In other words, he didnt want to work with my wife, my wife couldnt be in the movie, I couldnt direct the movie, I couldnt write the movie. It had to be written by a professional so I just went ahead and wrote my version anyway.
I started working on a play and thats what Im working on right now. Id like to see Cheech and Chong on Broadway but with a cast of new young blood.
DRE: Do you feel like Cheech has sold out?
TC: Beyond that. I think hes moved beyond selling out. I think he evolved out. He went another level. He grew up. I never grew up you see. I was fully formed by the time we did Cheech and Chong. But he was a kid when he did Cheech and Chong.
DRE: Growing up isnt necessarily a bad thing though.
TC: No, not at all. It is like The Eagles wanting to play some jazz when they go on tour or Jerry Garcia not wanting to do to do his Grateful Dead songs because he grew up. Cheech grew into another form. Hes an art expert and he goes out with a comedy group where he does, I guess its comedy. He does real adolescent, straight, white-bred shit and unfortunately Im still stuck in the same Cheech and Chong mode that Ive been in all my life.
DRE: I think thats a good thing.
TC: I think so too. Cheech wants to be a dramatic guy. God bless him for having ambition but the way I look at it is there are a lot of good dramatic Spanish actors out there, but theres not enough funny Cheechs. I would do anything to have Cheech be funny again. Serious shit bores me. Theres enough serious shit going on in the world but theres not enough humor in the world.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 9 of 9 COMMENTS
I agree with him on the whole, too much dramatic shit in the world, need more funny.
Enjoyed the interview Tommy, peace.
-Soliz