Tommy Chong On The Drug War: 'We Won, We Totally Won' http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/23/tommy-chong-drug-war_n_6533414.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592 Posted: 01/29/2015 2:16 pm EST Updated: 01/29/2015 2:59 pm EST Tommy Chong remembers the day federal agents raided his glass pipe business, making arrests and smashing bongs along the way. The 2003 raids, infamously known as Operation Pipe Dream, targeted 54 other individuals in a desperate attempt by the United States government to strike fear into marijuana smokers across the country. Chong became the face of the crackdown, largely due to his celebrity status from popular stoner movies, including "Up In Smoke" with partner Cheech Marin. "They wanted [to arrest] a celebrity that wasn't white. They wanted a headline," Chong, 76, told HuffPost at a New York art gallery, where he was celebrating the launch of a roll-your-own smoke accessory for marijuana lovers. Chong was convicted and sentenced to nine months in prison -- and it did absolutely nothing to stop him from being an advocate for the use of marijuana. Even as he sat and answered questions, Chong passed a fat joint some odd-smelling incense around a small group of people. While Chong was at the event to promote Futurola, an Amsterdam company that sells a wide variety of smoking paraphernalia, he also spoke at length about the growing marijuana movement, oil pipelines that should be turned into water pipelines and time travel. “We won, we totally won," Chong said of the drug war. "And I think [the government needs to] pay us back some money. They took a lot of money from me illegally, money that had nothing to do with bongs. They're thieves." Despite recreational marijuana becoming legal in Colorado and Washington, Chong said the most significant progress will come when federal laws are changed. He implored President Obama to use an executive order to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II. "Marijuana has never been a priority on [Obama's] watch, just lip service," he said. "Marijuana is a death sentence for any politician to get in favor of, because then you're some crazed hippie." Federal laws being changed or not, Chong expressed optimism at the growing support for legalization across the country. "The marijuana movement is a tsunami of intelligence sweeping across this country of ignorance, and it's killing everything ignorant in its wake, and it's not gonna stop," he said. When asked if he's always been this optimistic about the pot movement -- even after spending close to a year in federal prison for it -- he said the best way to deal with anything is to rise above it and keep positive thoughts. "You don't want to allow yourself to time travel, you want to stay right in the present, nailed in the present," he said. "Then, when you think of the future, you paint the rosiest future you can possibly paint, because what happens to us is we can write our own script. Visualize how you want the movie to be, and don't allow anything to change that vision. Everything you need to make that vision a reality starts appearing. It appears out of the ether." Chong took another deep hit off some dank weed funny-smelling cigarette, exhaling a heavy cloud of smoke before finishing his point. "Someone will show up, coincidences will happen, and suddenly you'll know life is exactly as you've planned it." ******** We may have won the war, but there are still a "few" battles to be fought! Blades, I'm in California, have a rec and I grow. To put it simply, I have it made! Yet EVERY day I am at the computer, educating folks in the Yahoo News comments (Goodness knows that they NEED educating!). I am working daily on my "Granny Storm Crow's List", so activists, patients, students and "cannabaphiles" can learn what this amazing plant can do! I WORK towards legalization! How about joining me? Become an activist! Get a copy of my List and send a few abstracts to your doctor (most doctors know nothing about how cannabis can heal). Comment in the news- "Last Man of Reason" and one of the "Michaels" are real assholes and very anti-cannabis. But "troll hunting" can be fun and those idiots DO stick their feet in their mouths frequently! Like "kami" did recently! kami- "Pot is a gateway drug and should be banned. It is only a really stupid person who thinks differently." Storm-""Marijuana as a Gateway Drug: The Myth That Will Not Die" (TIME), "Study of 4000 indicates marijuana discourages use of hard drugs"(CSDP), "Sorry, Sgt. Friday, Pot Smoking Might Not Lead to Hard Drugs" (ParentDish), "No 'Smoking' Gun: Research Indicates Teen Marijuana Use Does Not Predict Drug, Alcohol Abuse" (Science Daily), "Twin study fails to prove 'gateway' hypothesis" (UKCIA), and "Cannabis Use- A Gateway to other Drugs? The Case of Amsterdam" (cedro-uva). It is the street dealer that is the gateway, not the cannabis! The profit margin and addiction level are higher with hard drugs, so dealers are always ready to say "Hey, try this!". Remove the street dealer and replace him with a safe, well-lit and clean dispensary that sells only cannabis, and there is no "gateway effect"!" I get a guilty pleasure out of doing that- making the anti-cannabis folks look SO very foolish! And once you have a copy of my List, it is REALLY easy to do! I just went to the "Gateway Effect" section and started pulling out titles! New List is coming out soon! Looks like it will have close to 1,900 pages of links to studies and articles! Want a FREE copy? Just email me- my addy is in my sig! Granny
i think federal legalizations just bound to come soon. once the ignorance is wiped, it's just making the reform tidal wave taller and taller till it crashes on the feds and the white house and then wed have finally won it i wanna take a look at one of those yahoo forums, how can I get there?
It's not a forum, it's the comments in the news! Just go to Yahoo, and on the left side there is a column of things like - mail news sports And so on. Just click news, and then put "marijuana" in the "search news" box. All the stories on cannabis will pop up. Then all you have to do is click on a story, go down to the comments, and find yourself a troll to pick on! LOL Granny
Theres not too many yahoo articles on marijuana, but the search brings up other websites. unfortunately those ones have no comment sections, and almost all the yahoo articles on weed have smart stoners that are pro legalization already dominating the comments!
And they also have kami, Last Man of Reason, Michael, Cindybin and a lot of others who think cannabis is the devil's weed! A few have even stated that we should be taken out to the desert and shot...JUST because we use cannabis! Stop making excuses and get busy. I am just getting my morning tea, and after I have a few sips, I will head over to Yahoo and get busy! NO EXCUSES- YOUR comments ARE needed! My morning routine- wake up, get tea, load Pandora for music, visit Grass City, and then Yahoo for a bit and once I am fully awake, on to working on the List! Yesterday I was ill. Made no difference except for the number of trips to the bathroom. I still work at getting cannabis legalized for everyone, every single day! OK, so I am a fanatic (what can I say, it PREVENTS my migraines!). And I don't expect you to spend hours every day on the computer like I do. But come on, guys, DO SOMETHING! Granny
In terms of weed yes, but if you look at it from a higher perspective the war on drugs is a huge success, no doubt. The purpose of it wasn't to outlaw drugs but to suppress freedom and inject a disorder that resonates. Its purpose was to create distrust, spread fear, increase anxiety and depression, to make humans more selfish and narrow minded. Create chaos and divisions within a family. It was a success if you observe things for what they are. It is truly frightening. Observe do not analyze.