a/k/a Tommy Chong (2006)

a/k/a Tommy Chong, written, produced, and directed by Josh Gilbert, is a documentary film that chronicles the Drug Enforcement Administration raid on comedian Tommy Chong's house and his subsequent jail sentence for trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to nine months in federal prison. DEA agents raided Chong's Pacific Palisades, California home on the morning of February 24, 2003. The raid was part of Operation Pipe Dreams and "Operation Headhunter," which resulted in raids on 100 homes and businesses nationwide that day and indictments of 55 individuals.

The film was shown at film festivals in 2005 and 2006 and had its first, art-house theatrical release on June 14, 2006 at the Film Forum in New York City. The movie features appearances by Bill Maher and Jay Leno, who express support for Chong and outrage over federal handling of the incident. Eric Schlosser, author of Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market, provides "a much needed dollop of historical and political context". The film was presented on the Showtime cable network on November 9, 2008.

Synopsis

a/k/a Tommy Chong is a film depicting Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong and his legal problems with The Department of Justice. Filmmaker Josh Gilbert follows the tale of Chong as he becomes a target in a government sting, code named "Operation Pipe Dreams". Tommy Chong was the only defendant without a prior conviction to receive a jail sentence. The federal government stated that the reason that it sought this harsh punishment was because of the comedy movie Up In Smoke trivialized the government's anti-drug efforts.

Acteurs