cannabisnews.com: Chong Case Inspires Song, Thong





Chong Case Inspires Song, Thong
Posted by CN Staff on November 07, 2003 at 14:08:57 PT
By Eric Heyl, Tribune Review
Source: Tribune Review 
If you're searching for an innovative stocking stuffer this holiday season, look no further than the Free Tommy Chong thong. Consisting of combed cotton with an exclusive high-end woven trim, these classic white panties can serve as both intimate apparel and political statement. Women can marvel at how comfortable they are to wear, all the while protesting the actor-comedian's continued presence behind bars.
Not even two months ago, Chong was consigned to the legal scrap heap after being sentenced in federal court in Pittsburgh to nine months in prison for selling pipes. Pipes that could be (gasp!) used to smoke marijuana. Now he is a rallying force for people who find the federal government's drug laws draconian -- particularly when they are applied to glass pipes rather than drugs. People such as Allen St. Pierre, director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation. "It's the immutable law of unintended consequences," St. Pierre said. "By imprisoning Tommy Chong, the federal government has moved him from a cult sort of status to a real cause celebre." He's a marketable martyr, that Chong. In addition to selling the Chong thong, St. Pierre's group also is selling Free Tommy Chong boxer shorts, camisoles, baseball caps, bumper stickers and hooded sweatshirts. Proceeds from the sales, which St. Pierre said are endorsed by Chong's family, benefit NORML "and victims of the our repressive anti-paraphernalia laws," St. Pierre said. Still more memorabilia -- Free Chong coffee mugs, mousepads, even tokin' tote bags -- are available on another Internet address -- http://www.freetommychong.org This lends further credence to the idea that Chong has evolved into a folk hero of sorts, albeit one who won't get out much until the middle of next year. He's also been immortalized in a song on the NORML Web site by a group known as Johnny Stash and the Bagmen. Vaguely reminiscent of Woody Guthrie's "Tom Joad," the mournful refrain of the "Tommy Chong Bong Song" goes like this: "Nine months in prison for selling bongs That sentence is too damn long We can't find bin Laden and we're stuck in Iraq But we've got Tommy Chong under key and lock." Let's hope the thongs fit better than those guys rhyme. Eric Heyl is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staff writer. Source: Tribune Review (Pittsburgh, PA)Author: Eric Heyl, Tribune ReviewPublished: Friday, November 7, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Tribune-Review Publishing Co.Contact: opinion tribweb.comWebsite: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/Related Articles & Web Site:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Delay Requested in Chong Term http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17588.shtmlHe's Taking One Big Hithttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17522.shtmlWill Chong's Freedom Go Up in Smoke?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17396.shtml
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