International Cannabis Business Conference Speaker Spotlight - Tommy Chong

Katelyn Baker;3059012 said:

The annual International Cannabis Business Conference makes its way to Vancouver this October, gathering cannabis businesspeople, activists and allies alike to discuss the future of marijuana-related businesses as both Canada and the U.S. continue to introduce legalization measures.

Experts from all facets of cannabis culture will be in attendance to speak, including the legendary comedian and activist Tommy Chong, who will take part in a live celebrity interview at this year’s ICBC event.

Chong has remained a giant of the cannabis world since the comedic duo Cheech and Chong pushed stoner culture to the mainstream in the 1970s. He has since gone on to become a notable figure in the legal marijuana industry by promoting several products, including his personal line of cannabis strains, Chong’s Choice. Chong is also a fierce medical marijuana advocate who credits pot for defeating numerous bouts of cancer.

In anticipation of ICBC, we recently spoke with Chong about topics such as his health, a recent smoke session with UFC fighter Nick Diaz, and why he’s not quite on board with California’s ballot initiative to legalize cannabis. Check out the interview below.

The International Cannabis Business Conference will be held October 13-14 in Vancouver. Tickets are available online with a special Smell the Truth discount.

Smell the Truth: First off, we’d like to say we’re glad that you survived yet another death hoax.

Tommy Chong: I’m one of those old guys, you know, that will be around forever. I’ll have a lot of spare parts, but that’s part of the joy of being old.

STT: Speaking of which, how’s your health these days?

TC: Excellent. I just got a check-up from the cancer guys and they said I’m totally clean.

STT: What topics do you plan to address at this year’s ICBC?

TC: Well, mainly the approach, the mental approach, you know. I’d like to get rid of all this anxiety and all this worry and all this crap. I mean, we’re in the marijuana business, come on. Don’t get uptight, don’t get territorial, don’t get worried about your profits and all that stuff, and concentrate more on what we’ve been doing for the past 100 years.

I also tell people, we don’t need people to tell us how to grow it or how to smoke it or where to smoke it, we don’t need that. What we need is people to quit putting us in jail and charging us for nonexistent crimes.

All I would advise the authorities is to enjoy the peace, because that’s what marijuana brings to the world, is peace.

STT: What was Vancouver’s cannabis culture like when you used to live there compared to now?

TC: For a while there, we had to get all our weed from Mexico. And then the Vietnam War happened, and then we started getting our weed from Thailand and Vietnam. And after and during the Vietnam War, people started growing B.C. buds, so all we had to do is get it from Denman Island or one of the islands.

You could always get it. During the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, there was so much bud being grown in B.C. that it was always available. Before that, we smoked a lot of hash, because the hash would come in from India, Amsterdam, and all those places.

STT: What was it like smoking weed with Nick Diaz a few days ago?

TC: Great! I love Nick! Except he gets a little pissed off at me because I always mix him up with his brother. I was talking about, “Are you all healed?” and he says, “Oh, that was Nate.”

But other than that, we have the best time, he’s such a cool guy. He’s so intelligent. He could be an actor. If anything, I’d love to see him in a film.

STT: As an action actor or a dramatic actor?

TC: Well, an action actor you, know, but he is. He’s really good with his fists, he’s a martial arts guy. He could be one of those superheroes, you know? Really easy.

STT: Now that you live in L.A., what are your thoughts on California’s Prop. 64?

TC: I really don’t pay much attention to that sh*t, because it’s again just bureaucrats trying to get their little greedy hands into the weed business, so they come up with these cockamamie kind of restrictions and all that.

But what we’re doing, it’s going to happen regardless. It will pass, of course. Once you see pot curing little kids of epilepsy, end of argument.

News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: International Cannabis Business Conference Speaker Spotlight - Tommy Chong
Author: Oscar Pascual
Contact: SFGate
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: SFGate

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