a/k/a Tommy Chong

"The real stoners in this excellent documentary are the administration officials drunk with power and out of control, and a nation of otherwise good people who've been given the worst drug of all, fear." - Michael Moore

At the height of the Bush Adminstration, Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong was charged with selling bongs over the Internet and sentenced to nine months in federal prison. A vocal opponent of the "War on Terror," Chong was singled out as part of a $12 million sting, "Operation Pipe Dreams." Filmmaker Josh Gilbert captures the humorous, avuncular Chong as he and his family cope with his incarceration. But the laughs are tempered by our recognition of the government's questionable priorities and the shameless use of the judicial system to scapegoat a counterculture icon. (80 minutes + bonus features, 2008)