One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Tommy Chong Is (Shockingly) Pro-Medical Pot Now That He Has Prostate Cancer
s_bukley / Shutterstock.com
Tommy Chong, one half of the legendary comic stoner duo Cheech and Chong, recently revealed that he's fighting slow-growing prostate cancer...with a little help from an old friend."I've got prostate cancer, and I'm treating it with hemp oil, with cannabis," Chong told CNN. "So (legalizing marijuana) means a lot more to me than just being able to smoke a joint without being arrested."
Chong revealed that he has slow stage one prostate cancer to CNN. He told the station that he started having symptoms of the cancer around 2003 when he was sent to prison for selling drug paraphernalia. However, he was only diagnosed with cancer about a month ago.
He went out of his way to point out that he had not been smoking for three years before he started having prostate problems: "So I know it had nothing to do with cannabis."
Chong isn't actually toking up anymore at the ripe old age of 74, but he is still taking hemp oil at night. "I'm taking it as a medicine," he told CNN.
Chong lives in the Pacific Palisades is still touring with Cheech Marin.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
