Our reporting is free for everyone, but it’s not free to make.
LAist only exists with reader support. If you're in a position to give, your donation powers our reporters and keeps us independent.
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.