Tommy Chong Campaigns in Pennsylvania
[Guest post by DRJ]
Entertainer Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong is campaigning in a Pennsylvania political race:
“Drug-themed comedian Tommy Chong returned to Pittsburgh to help local Democrats raise money to oppose the Congressional campaign of the woman who prosecuted him for selling bongs over the Internet.
Chong did nine months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty in 2003 to charges sought by Mary Beth Buchanan, who resigned as U.S. attorney last year. She’s running in the Republican primary in hopes of opposing U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., in November.
During an appearance at a union hall Wednesday night, Chong said he wanted to thank Buchanan “for jump-starting my career again” before also calling her “a liar and a thief.”
Most politicians like celebrity endorsements but this may be the exception that proves the rule.
Pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht is also campaigning for Buchanan’s opponent, apparently because Buchanan prosecuted him as well.
— DRJ
Jumpstart what career? Besides playing Leo on T70S, what has he done since the Cheech and Chong movies?
NOBODY GOES TO JAIL IF NOBODY BUYS WEED!
East Coast Chris (ded5f2) — 5/8/2010 @ 8:49 pmWith friends like these ….
nk (db4a41) — 5/8/2010 @ 8:53 pmThat should certainly help. Her opponent is probably frantically trying to get Chong to go back to California and campaign for Barbara Boxer or somebody.
Mike K (2cf494) — 5/8/2010 @ 9:13 pmAlthough I agree with the thrust of the post, I have always felt that paraphernalia laws, with few exceptions, are a bit tyranical as most items proscribed have alternative legal uses. (yes even bongs) Paraphernalia laws won’t stop someone person from the use of drugs, as their proponents claim, this is just a tool to enable law enforcement to harass suspected users who aren’t found to be in possession of the actual drug at the time of arrest. It’s like arresting someone for check kiting because they have a check book and a pen. They may be indicators or the means for a previous violation but shouldn’t be illegal in and of themselves due to their normally lawful use.
Possession as reasonable suspicion of drug use; yes. As an actual crime; not so much. Particularly when applied to the really fringe items that have so many other uses as their primary reasons for being manufactured.
If you’ve ever seen how many different and surprising items have been/can be used to ingest/inhale/inject drugs into someone’s body, you’d understand that practically anything can and will be used to do so if the subject has the motivation and ingenuity to do so.
Accordingly most paraphernalia laws are vaguely written.
Thus, as in the case of Mr. Chong, it is subjectively and arbitrarily enforced.
Ergo: bad law.
jakee308 (a38882) — 5/8/2010 @ 11:17 pmjakee308 – When you have to patdown/search multiple retail theft/shoplifting suspects in the course of a week and each and every one of them is in possession of a set of used works (Hypodermics for heroin use)come back and let me know how you feel. These guys are not in possession of actual drugs for more than five minutes as the number of people ODing in public restrooms would attest to.
Have Blue (854a6e) — 5/8/2010 @ 11:28 pmWhen I was a clerk, my office used Cyril Wecht as an expert. He was a consummate professional and observed the division between his office and his expert work well. The criminal case against him sounded like bs from the start.
Even if they could find a few technical violations, Mr. Wecht was an unmitigated good for his office. Whoever decided to prosecute him made a poor choice.
bskb (ad6e23) — 5/9/2010 @ 12:11 amQuery: If Mr. Chong had been prosecuted by a Dem, would he now be campaigning for the GOP candidate?
I think we all know the answer to that one.
Icy Texan (d75ab1) — 5/9/2010 @ 2:57 amGonna go downtown
Gonna see my gal
Gonna sing her a song
Gonna show her my ding-dong.
Loved these guys in the seventies.
nk (db4a41) — 5/9/2010 @ 3:08 amJerk prosecutors who take on frivolous cases in order to advance themselves politically should be opposed. It’s a free country, or at least it should be. While it’s technically within an original understanding of the Commerce Clause to criminally sanction the transport of bongs across state lines, such a law is an offense to liberty. And Tommy Chong – who at least has the virtue of making people laugh – has contributed more to society than yet another thug prosecutor turned weasel politician.
Brian (455a8e) — 5/9/2010 @ 7:17 am“The dog ate my stash, man.”
He’s following her around with a baggie.
Huey (efe02b) — 5/9/2010 @ 8:13 amHave Blue: So those paraphernalia laws are really working aren’t they?
You make my point.
Why not pass a law requiring junkies to carry their works in some type of protective case?
/sarc
(because they won’t obey the law, it’s kinda the definition of a criminal)
These laws mainly are useful to L.E. for one purpose; harassment of a suspected drug user not in possession of drugs at the time of being detained.
If they weren’t written so over broadly, I might agree with some items being included on a contraband list (due to their hazard as you indicate) but to outlaw rolling papers or a pipe is a bit too much and smacks of law enforcement trying to ‘get even’.
If you don’t like it that criminals will commit criminal acts, you’re in the wrong line of work and to criminalize a lawful activity or item that can also be utilized by a criminal in an unlawful activity leads to a police state. Which by the way, we have almost accomplished in regards to drug laws.
Making Drug use and possession a crime has done little more than turn sick people and those who would make money off them into a self perpetuating culture of misery. Instead of stopping/finding those who commit crimes of violence or fraud, we should spend the time tending to sick individuals who need a Doctor’s care more than a jail cell. As to those who supply the drugs; most of them would be occupied elsewhere if the number of users was lessened through humane treatment and rehabilitation.
If done correctly, drug users have less of a recidivism rate than most other crimes when monitored after sentencing to probation by a drug court rather than jail time.
Incarceration for drug users is like a merry go round; there’s the appearance of movement but everyone keeps going around and around getting nowhere.
If possession of paraphernalia was a route to appearance at a drug court, supervised probation and drug rehabilitation, I wouldn’t be quite so disdainful of arresting those in possession of certain implements of drug use. You’d probably begin to see a drop in how many users you have to make contact with and you’d find that there would be decrease in certain types of crime. This would free up L.E. Officers to spend the time to arrest sellers and distributors.
Criminalizing possession or sale of items that have a lawful use is overly punitive. (caveat; if the item has residue of an illegal substance, then it might be a misdemeanor but no more).
Tommy Chong’s prosecution and incarceration had more to do with ‘Payback’ and ‘Sending a message’ than keeping the peace.
jakee308 (a38882) — 5/9/2010 @ 9:06 amJakee308 – Actually most of the heroin users I had to search did keep their works in a protective case. The most common was a hard sided eyeglass case.
And we weren’t harassing these people, we were arresting them for stealing other people’s property.
At that job the only time I had to deal with a person, strictly due to their drug use, was when we hauled them out of a public restroom, unconscious or turning purple due to ODing. (And if you want to see an amazing transformation watch an almost comatose heroin user get a shot of Narcan (sp?). Instant sobriety, and usually pissed off for messing up their high.)
Have Blue (854a6e) — 5/9/2010 @ 9:28 amPersonally, when I think about the damage to our Constitutional protections caused by the War on Some Unpopular Drugs, I get…upset. As in “if I could, I not only would repeal the WoSUD, but go after those who waged it with everything I could think of (and can’t I think, just?) including, but not limited to, whips, turpentine, tarring-and-feathering, ex post facto laws, attainder and corruption of blood, outlawry, confessions extracted by torture, autos-da-fe and forced sex with Janet Reno.” And I’d turn a deaf ear to howls about their Constitutional rights—those who have thrown the Constitution down and danced on it in manure-covered boots don’t get to appeal to it when their turn comes.
Technomad (e2c0f2) — 5/9/2010 @ 10:44 amLegal or illegal, good laws or bad laws, I hope we have not come to the point where Tommy Chong is seen as a spokesperson for responsible citizenship.
If so, then “Soma” holidays ala Brave New World will start appearing on state referendums.
I went to high school and college in the 70’s, (and college at a renowned liberal party school at that). After seeing a total of maybe 20 minutes of “That 70’s Show” over the years, respectability is not exactly the characteristic I would use to describe Mr. Chong or anyone else associated with the show. I always wanted to see a sociology dissertation comparing/contrasting “Happy Days” with “70’s” as indicators of/influences on popular culture.
MD in Philly (ea3785) — 5/9/2010 @ 11:31 amToken support at best..
EricPWJohnson (554c4e) — 5/9/2010 @ 11:37 amBlind Melon Chitlin. Solid comedy gold. Not safe for work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFP-1eU0KkI&feature=related
nk (db4a41) — 5/9/2010 @ 11:37 amWhat Cheech and Chong actually did was deride the drug and pop culture of the seventies.
nk (db4a41) — 5/9/2010 @ 11:46 amThat’s “toking” support, EPWJ.
Icy Texan (69710c) — 5/9/2010 @ 11:51 amDumb law, dumb actions by Mr. Chong, dumb prosecution.
Dmac (21311c) — 5/9/2010 @ 3:43 pmHave Blue:
You said:
What does that have to do with the ineffectiveness and unfairness of drug paraphernalia laws?
You Said:
I never said that if someone was committing another crime that they should get a pass. So your point isn’t a valid counterpoint to what I said.
I was referring to someone arrested solely for possession of drug paraphernalia with no other concomitant violation as ‘harassment’. I said this due to the FACT that some officers under some conditions WILL make paraphernalia possession arrests mainly to harass someone they know or suspect (with no proof) that someone is dealing drugs.
It’s petty, it’s illegal, it diminishes respect for L.E. and it can result in a prosecutor becoming abusive with their power. (As the post refers to Tommy Chong’s overzealous prosecution by someone trying to make a name for themselves politically. Can you say NIFONG?)
jakee308 (a38882) — 5/9/2010 @ 4:51 pmjakee308 – Except Chong had actually broken the law and committed the crime he was accused of committing. There is no valid comparison to Nifong.
Have Blue (854a6e) — 5/9/2010 @ 9:42 pmWell, it seems Chong finished his job early. Buchanan was defeated in her primary yesterday!
Have Blue is probably somewhere sobbing right now too!
Jaxebart (1d6054) — 5/19/2010 @ 11:46 amBoy, this post sure brought out the druggies !
Mike K (82f374) — 5/19/2010 @ 12:00 pm