The 65-year-old actor was sentenced last week to 9 months in federal priso

[norrinr]

"The 65-year-old actor was sentenced last week to 9 months in federal prison and fined $20,000 for selling his line of bongs and pipes."

That can't be right.
Are you telling me you can't legally sell bongs and pipes etc. in the U.S.?

[arcane1]

1. he was selling them on the internet, which means a b.s. federal charge

horseshit, if you ask me...

Ed Rosenthal
Tommy Chong

aren't you glad all the terrorists are captured, and they can waste time with this crap intead?

ps- welcome to DU! :hi:

I should add, Ed was growing pot for the City of Oakland, PAID by the city... they busted him on federal drug charges, and the jury wasn't even allowed to KNOW that he was doing it legally under state law

:grr:

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

21. Bush can't find Binladen, but he got Tommy Chong

good job, Bush

[BigMcLargehuge]

22. for the record, I hear Osama bin Laden can quote Nice Dreams

in its entirety.

[Dookus]

2. it's total horseshit....

and I hope when he gets out, he writes a book and does a national tv tour to talk about his experience with Asscroft's justice system.

And I still can't imagine what law he broke. Selling hand-blown glass on the internet is illegal? WTF?

[arcane1]

4. I think it's an interstate thing...

since he is selling on the net, he can sell to areas where it might not be legal to sell these items.

horeshit nonetheless

[FloridaPat]

5. BUT - I can buy on the internet: wine, cigarettes, Viagra,

tons of perscription drugs with and internet doctor "physical", porn, gambling, probably call girls and boys, but no bongs???? I think I even saw marijana seeds for sale once. But no BONGS???

[Clete]

8. Not only that I have seen all kinds of martial arts weapons

for sale on the internet with no licenses required.

[monobrau]

11. Actually...

You can't buy wine for delivery to every state, as I found out this past X-mas. So if they caught a vendor selling to those states, there probably would be criminal charges. But I doubt there would be any prison time for it.

[TAH6988]

13. It's a felony to ship wine to MD N/T

[DuctapeFatwa]

3. Anyone can be imprisoned indefinitely without charges in the US

Chong is actually lucky. He has a release date, and he had charges.

[amber dog democrat]

6. Such a relief

to know we are safer now that we have him behind bars.

I am sure this is going to backfire somehow.

We should be ashamed.

[ComerPerro]

7. Ashcroft needs to get a constructive hobby

Because this Puritan bullshit has got to stop.

Remember, the real terrorists are not tbe ones blowing up buildings in Iraq. The real terrorists are American citizens who smoke marijuana, masturbate, watch porn, or enjoy giving/recieving oral sex.

[norrinr]

9. Still not clear - don't you have headshops and stuff?

Still unclear - does that mean you guys don't have headshops where you can legally buy bongs, pipes, kingsize skins etc?

It's perfectly legal in Europe. - Not sure about Greece though - I remember in my youth that cigarette papers were illegal in the sixties there.

p.s Thanks for the welcome - gotta say - I live in the Canary Islands (Spanish colony just off Africa) and the only "english" tv news channel we can receive is Foxnews - madness - especially the O'Reilly f***er - what an ill-mannered evil man. - anyway thanks to DU - it's good to know that not all of america is gungho, psycho and illogical.

[ComerPerro]

14. There are some places where you can buy that stuff

In Wisconsin you can buy bongs, papers, pipes, etc. But they have signs emphaticly stating that they are "for tobacco use only" (but they know what you are gong to use it for). However, as someone mentioned, since it is on the internet it can be sold in states where selling these items is illegal.

Thats horrible that the only US station you recieve is Faux News. I hope you spread the word that not ALL Americans are like Bush and OReiley.

[Paranoid_Portlander]

20. Don't overlook the people who...

... possess calico cats. They might be consorting with the Devil, which might lead to thinking impure thoughts.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. Hey, he's got a little time to write now.

Tommy's a great guy, very personable and genuinely nice. He and Cheech have a deal to make another movie, and I'll bet you Ashcroft's gonna take a few on each of his chins for this one. They're set to go into pre-production as soon as this crap is resolved.

This was grandstanding, pure and simple, and it's gonna backfire.

[DealsGapRider]

12. Good grief

What an absolute outrage. I cannot believe this sort of thing is happening in this day and age. At least with the Patriot Act and whatnot you can at least make a tenuous argument that it's needed to combat terrorism. What justification is there for this? To prevent people from eating nachos and watching TV while they're high?

The criminalization of marijuana while alcohol is legal is the great hypocrisy of our age. This man is a political prisoner, nothing more.

Jesus.

[diamondsoul]

15. G-Dammit all!

9 months usually equals about a third of that, and I think it's still too long! He should never have been charged at all! Dumb-@$$ bartstids!

[oasis]

16. WTF

:wtf: :grr:

[catzies]

17. The BFEE is stuck in the 60s because they think "they lost."

While GW was in college listening to Andy Williams, and Perry Como and keeping his hair short and his face clean-shaven, they thought America was going to hell in a handbasket with all those damn hippies everywhere getting all the attention.

They never got over it, which is why AssKKKroft made it a priority to bust (Cheech and) Chong.

"How ya like me now, hippies? I'M IN CHARGE!"

[calimary]

19. Just respond... "not for long."

[Paranoid_Portlander]

18. The law is an ass,

said Charles Dickens. The law against bongs is its hole, (says me).

[norrinr]

23. Don't get me wrong ...

....I'm now a middle aged family man and I'd hate to see my little children being exposed to Bongs and their contents etc...

However, just as its possible for parents not to have sex in front of their kids , it's also possible to have an occasssional wee puff now and again outwith their line of vision.

Double-standards are easy to enforce when you are in power (I'm talking from experience as a parent).

Good luck to the good in america. Sod the rest.
Let's hope democracy will one day be restored to the US.