Tommy Chong on his stoner image: ‘I’m really a boring, healthy guy’

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Tommy Chong may be the OG of potheads, but these days the 86-year-old gets his cannabis from edibles.

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“I was never a heavy smoker,” said the Edmonton-born Chong, in town to collect a cannabis industry award at the Grow Up Conference and Expo taking place from Monday to Wednesday at the Delta By Marriott Toronto Airport Convention Centre.

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“The (Cheech and Chong) movies (of the 1970s and onward) showed me with a big, old joint, but there was no inhaling.”

In fact, Chong’s more recent time behind bars lead to him quitting smoking weed entirely.

“When I got in trouble with the law (for selling bongs online), I had to quit smoking — it’s called pretrial probation — and then I did nine months in jail (between 2003 and 2004) and then I was on probation for a year after that, so I did three years without any cannabis.”

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Following that, Chong battled both prostate and rectal cancer.

“I’m a medical miracle,” said Chong.

I asked him: What, then, contributes to his longevity?

“My gorgeous wife,” he joked. “I stay in shape chasing after her.”

More seriously, he said: “I got into bodybuilding in the ’50s. And I’ve been an avid bodybuilder, still am, all my life. And that included diet, that included lifestyle. So in spite of my movies, I’m really a boring, healthy guy.”

Chong is the curator for Tommy’s Craft, a cannabis brand run by family members that is sold in Alberta, Manitoba and Newfoundland, and he is getting the Tommy Chong’s Legends of Cannabis Award at the Grow Up Conference.

“It’s a ticket that says I don’t have to go to jail,” he joked.

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Chong, who claims not to know much about the laws surrounding the 2018 Canadian legalization of recreational cannabis, is nonetheless thrilled it happened.

“That phrase it took too long, it doesn’t work,” he said. “Cause we’re only in the now. Right now, we’re in a nice position.”

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And he’s not surprised that a recent Canadian report said 30% of people in our country still get their pot from their dealer instead of government stores.

“Of course!” said Chong. “You don’t need this expensive packaging that keeps kids — and old guys like me — from opening it.”

Chong feels similarly about a 2022 study published in the New York Times, saying more Americans imbibe in cannabis daily than alcohol.

“It makes me feel good,” he said, adding: “I’m 86 years old. I can still dance. I can still play golf. I can still do lots of things and a lot of it has to do with my involvement with the cannabis plant. ”

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Chong, who teamed up with Mexican-American Cheech Marin in Vancouver in the early ’70s to form the comedy duo Cheech and Chong, most recently toured across Canada with his old partner in 2019 until Marin’s “knees gave out.

“We had a nice time,” said Chong, who is planning on touring again with wife and Vancouver native Shelby Fiddis.

“Cheech loves Canada. Well, you know, he was a landed immigrant during the Vietnam War.”

Still, a new documentary about the comedy team called Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie is coming from his daughter Robbi Chong and producer Dave Bushell (Sling Blade, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.)

“It’s looking for a home,” said Chong. “Right now, we’re trying to figure out how to distribute it.”

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