As reported by Huffington Post in Canada, Tommy was in Toronto last week to film a cameo as himself in CBC TV’s “Air Farce New Year’s Eve,” which premieres Dec. 31.
This show is great, they let me do what I want to do. I’m terrible with scripts, just terrible, because I can’t see, I can’t hear, I can’t remember. That’s why I only played one character in my career, because I’m not an actor. I’m just a Tommy Chong. I’m a comedian,
Chong said.
One of the topics covered in the special is Canada’s legalization of recreational cannabis back in October, which pot activists like Chong have praised for helping remove stigmas surrounding weed use.
I love that it’s Canada that was first (to do it before the U.S.). See, God has a sense of humour: he gave us Trump and he legalized weed at the same time,
he said, sitting on a couch in his dressing room wearing a Cheech and Chong T-shirt emblazoned with a cannabis leaf.
Waiting until the ‘dust settles’ before bringing his company to Canada
Still, Chong feels Canada hasn’t approached recreational cannabis legalization in the right way.
Absolutely not, but that’s the Canadian way. Like when they legalized alcohol, the government took control of the monopoly and you could only buy booze from the government, and the government is trying to do the same thing with pot. They want to make it so that they’re the only supplier and it’s not going to work that way. So what Canada has done now, legally, they’ve kept the underground market alive and vibrant, because people still go to their dealer to get the best weed and the quickest weed,
said the 80-year-old.
Chong said he’s legally not allowed to bring his own cannabis company to Canada right now, nor is he allowed to do a celebrity endorsement of it here. He’s waiting until the “dust settles” and figures that eventually he will launch Chong’s Choice here.
We’re going to be in Germany, we’re going to be in Ecuador, we’re going to be in Brazil. See, once marijuana becomes the economy of the world, all these third-world countries will quit the wars. They’ll be too stoned to fight, basically. So what Canada has done now, legally, they’ve kept the underground market alive and vibrant, because people still go to their dealer to get the best weed and the quickest weed,
he said.
Chong grew up in Calgary and became a pot enthusiast in 1957 when a bass player at a jazz club handed him a joint and a Lenny Bruce record.
It changed my life. I dropped out of school right away, because I knew that everything I needed to learn was on the street. I was a musician and I just devoted my life to music,
Chong said.
Chong later got into improv comedy and rose to fame through the “Cheech & Chong” albums and movies, which followed the hazy, hippie adventures of him and Richard (Cheech) Marin, whom he met in Vancouver. With cannabis on the minds of many these days, could there be another “Cheech & Chong” film on the horizon?
No, to be honest with you.There have been a few attempts lately and there’s one attempt at a documentary and it’s still in the works. But no, we can’t go back in time. I look at what we used to do and I go, ‘Wow, those guys had a lot of energy,
Chong said.
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