http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3102710.stmJail time for cult actor Chong
Chong had pleaded for a community order sentence
Actor Tommy Chong, of the cult Cheech and Chong movies, has been sentenced to nine months in jail for selling drug paraphernalia over the internet.
He was also fined $20,000 (£12,500) for conspiring to distribute marijuana pipes and other equipment.
Chong, 65, admitted having a marijuana problem, but said he was overcoming it through hobbies such as salsa dancing.
He pleaded for leniency from the judge in Pittsburgh, saying he was not the pot smoking character of his films.
Prosecutors said Chong began a business in 2001 called Nice Dreams - named after a Cheech and Chong film - which made $1.6m (£1m) before it was raided by the FBI.
In May, Chong pleaded guilty to supplying pipes, bongs and other paraphernalia.
'Marketing power'
Federal authorities in Pittsburgh have convicted 22 other national drug-paraphernalia distributors since 2000 under Operation Pipe Dreams.
"[Chong] wasn't the biggest supplier. He was a relatively new player," US attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said. "But he had the ability to market products like no other."
The judge ordered Chong to forfeit $103,000 (£64,700) in sales proceeds and abandon his website domain names.
Although sentenced to nine months in jail, Chong will remain free until told which prison to report to, which is likely to be near his California home.
Drug education
During his sentencing hearing, he told the court that he was not like the characters he played in the movies he starred in with Cheech Marin.
He also said he now tried to educate children against the dangers of drugs, and had embraced the world of salsa dancing.
Chong made his name alongside Marin in a series of drug-related movies in which they usually played stoned characters, including Up in Smoke and Still Smokin'.
The were in recently in talks to make a new film, their first since 1984, deciding the time was right for another Cheech and Chong movie as their cult status ensured they had a new generation of fans.
― Marcus, Sunday, 14 September 2003 01:49 (twenty-two years ago)
No, part of the Bush Administration's DEA rampage involved massive shutting down of head shops in the US. One right down the street from me packed up and disappeared days before they raided a bunch of stores (and this is in Berkeley). However, there are a *few* that have remained in business untouched, I'm not sure exactly how (or maybe they just started putting the bongs back on the shelves recently). Tommy Chong was part of this same raid that happened a few months ago. It's absurd.
― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Sunday, 14 September 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)
< STONER VOICE >Hey, uh...you gotta free him...cuz, um...he, like, in the middle of making this really trippy bong for me...and he wasn't, like, y'know, done making it yet.
http://www.kleinbottle.com/images/bigclassicwithsliderule.jpgThis is the design. Far out, right?
< STONER VOICE >― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Monday, 15 September 2003 01:46 (twenty-two years ago)
eight years pass...
Get well soon!
Tommy Chong, one-half of the marijuana-loving "Cheech and Chong" comedy duo, is battling prostate cancer, he announced Saturday on CNN.Having first noticed symptoms about eight years ago while incarcerated for selling drug paraphernalia, Chong said he was diagnosed "about a month ago." He revealed his condition in an interview about his support for decriminalizing marijuana use and sales.
"I've got prostate cancer, and I'm treating it with hemp oil, with cannabis," he told CNN's Don Lemon. "So (legalizing marijuana) means a lot more to me than just being able to smoke a joint without being arrested."
Chong described the cancer "as a slow stage one (that I've) had for a long time." He said that he was drug free for about three years, during which time he began having prostate-related problems.
"So I know it had nothing to do with cannabis," he said. "Cannabis is a cure."
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 11 June 2012 02:47 (thirteen years ago)