[420 Girl]

Tommy Chong might have spent time behind bars at the behest of U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, but -- with an award-winning documentary about his ordeal being re-released today on DVD -- the long-time marijuana advocate regrets nothing.

"I really credit the experience as one of the highlights of my life," Chong, 70, said yesterday from his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. "When you get martyred like I did, everything changes. People treat you with a lot more respect. It turned out to be a badge of honor."

In 2003, Chong pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Downtown, to a charge of conspiracy to sell drug paraphernalia.

Investigators duped workers at his family company, publicly called Chong Glass, into shipping several bongs to an undercover shop in Beaver County as part of a crackdown on "head shops" in Western Pennsylvania by Buchanan's office and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

The case was the first in more than a decade in which a manufacturer of drug paraphernalia was prosecuted in the United States.

"Mary Beth, I don't know what planet she's from. They had to find someone who would prosecute these victimless crimes, these political facades they call justice," Chong said. "It's another example of Bush and the Republican Party keeping true to their word to be right-winged fascists."

Thomas B. Kin Chong spent nine months as Inmate No. 07798-068 at California's Taft Correctional Institute before being released in 2004. He has visited Pittsburgh numerous times since as part of his stand-up comedy tour.

Buchanan said Chong is the only one still thinking about himself.

"I have not seen any of his films, and I definitely don't intend to see this one," Buchanan said. "Chong has a very warped sense of his own relevance. ... He's attempted to use the prosecution to raise his notoriety in the community."

Filmmaker Josh Gilbert's project, "a/k/a Tommy Chong," won best documentary at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival and received recognition from film festivals in Toronto, San Francisco and New York, among others. The documentary won a Stony Award from High Times magazine.

Chong's indictment stated that he was targeted, in part, for "glamorizing illegal distribution and use of marijuana" and noted the 1978 movie "Up in Smoke," the first movie Chong made with Richard "Cheech" Marin. The comedy duo made a string of record-breaking movies and comedy albums based on the pot-laden exploits of "Cheech and Chong."

The men announced last month that they would begin "Light Up America," their first tour in more than 25 years, on Sept. 12 in Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh was not among the dates announced so far.

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...s-new-dvd.html