Tommy Chong Believes Pot Will Prevail

Now that marijuana has been legalized in two states, an optimistic Tommy Chong believes the rest of the nation will soon follow suit. On Al Gore's Current TV, the actor shared his utopian vision for the future of marijuana in America: “Washington and Colorado, they're just the toe into the water. The whole body's following," he predicted. If marijuana legalization does sweep across other states, Chong claims: “It's gonna legalize hemp. It's also going to empty the jails and we're probably going to disband the DEA.” The actor, who is best known for starring alongside Cheech Marin in the cult classic marijuana-themed Cheech & Chong movies, also believes that legalization will lead to a new golden age in art and culture. “Marijuana enhances the creative ability of artists, that's well known," he explained. "That goes all the way back to Rembrandt and Van Gogh, for instance... These aren't guys that are smoking pot just to relax or to cure some medical ailment. These are guys that are smoking pot so they could get the ideas, the creative ideas, that pot creates." Without the mind-altering substance, he claimed: "We wouldn't have had the Beatles.” Chong's hopes for a nationwide victory for weed are personal, as well as political; he says he won't miss the thrill of smoking an illicit substance. "Going to jail and being arrested by cops and being hassled for having a plant, or smoking a plant, is never fun," he recently told NPR. "There's nothing glamorous...that we're going to miss."