Pubdate: Tue, 16 Sep 2003
Source: AlterNet (US Web)
Copyright: 2003 Independent Media Institute
Contact:  http://www.alternet.org/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1451
Author: Debra McCorkle, AlterNet
Cited: Drug Enforcement Administration ( www.dea.gov )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/ashcroft.htm (Ashcroft, John)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?228 (Paraphernalia)

TOMMY CHONG WILL BE FREE IN PRISON

I feel genuine shock and sorrow upon the news that Tommy Chong is going to 
prison for nine months. At the same time I am joyful. For one thing, the 
only other prominent American who up till now is serving a newsworthy jail 
term for a paraphernalia conviction is Chris Hill, who was such an 
outspoken Young Republican that it was hard to garner much sympathy for him 
even within the tobacco accessories industry. There was always a bit of 
schadenfreude whenever Hill's fourteen month stint at the Eglin prison 
facility was mentioned. Tommy Chong is a different story.

I enjoyed Cheech and Chong as I was growing up in the seventies and still 
own one of those gatefold album-sized Big Bambu rolling papers. I was no 
stoner (but counted many among my friends) and found the comedy duo's 
routine fun although silly. But, like the late humorist Lenny Bruce, they 
shocked and broke new ground in comedy. It became not only acceptable but 
fashionable to joke about marijuana and its many effects not only on 
college campuses but in Las Vegas and beyond. Cheech and Chong proclaimed 
that the world was full of pot smoking fools and we were free to recognize 
our own spacey smoky dumbassedness and not be ashamed.

When Tommy Chong re-appeared in the television series That Seventies Show 
and in the marijuana classic Half-Baked, it was a triumphant return. He 
neither glorified the druggy life or condemned it; it was simply the 
endearing role of a character which he had always played, like the 
perpetually drunk Otis in the Andy Griffith Show a generation ago.

Chong continued to use the character and his personal belief in the 
goodness of marijuana when he lent his name to a glass pipe company as well 
as a drug detox product. Both Nice Dreams Enterprises (operating as Chong 
Glass) and Tommy Chong's Urine Luck were successful tax-paying companies. 
Both advertised openly in consumer magazines like High Times and in 
industry publications such as HeadQuest (which has since the paraphernalia 
crackdown turned its attention and advertising toward the tattoo and body 
piercing business). Like dozens of other glass companies, Chong Glass 
operated as an above-board corporation and Tommy Chong must have thought 
that he was free to do so.

When Operations Pipe Dreams and Headhunter swooped down from the DEA at 
outrageous taxpayer expense last winter, 55 of the more prominent 
paraphernalia company owners were arrested and Chong was not spared. Months 
of speculation followed among the storekeepers and wholesalers followed. 
Many waited for the sentences to be handed down before marking down their 
wares and getting out of the pipe business altogether. Some went ahead and 
closed voluntarily. Some were confident that, because the government had 
targeted the wealthier of the glass dealers, there would be money and 
topnotch lawyers to fight the good fight.

The details of Tommy Chong's court date were all over the Internet by 
September 12th, the day after his sentencing. Guilty. Nine months, 
imprisonment, a $20K fine, and $100K in forfeited assets.

Chong's attorney Richard Hirsch had offered the court a deal for leniency: 
Chong would repudiate his involvement with marijuana and the bong industry 
and promised to spend his probation making appearances speaking against 
drug use. The judge said no dice.

Thank you, Judge Schwab.

Because of the court's refusal to accept this devil's bargain to turn Tommy 
Chong into another horrible Just Say No advertising shill for the 
Partnership for a Drug Free America, Chong is a free man. For the mere 
price of nine months in jail, he can spend the rest of his life as a hero 
for libertarian ideals. He doesn't have to kiss John Ashcroft's ass. He 
doesn't have to be a liar and a hypocrite. Like those who went to jail and 
endured the blacklist during the McCarthy Era, Chong can maintain his 
integrity in these increasingly right-wing Big Brother times. He can use 
this imprisonment to publicize the punishment inflicted by our government 
for a non-violent crime which has harmed no one.

Henry David Thoreau said that those who are in prison are in essence the 
most free.

Face the future with grace and courage, Tommy. Your jail sentence will only 
add to the authenticity of the beloved character you have delighted us with 
for decades. The youth of America are depending on you to tell the truth 
about marijuana. Do the right thing for all of us.
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MAP posted-by: Beth