Cheech and Chong. A life dedicated to cannabis activism
Cheech and Chong. The two famous comedians who created the popular stoner comedy film in the 1970s, helped the Puyallup tribe to open a new cannabis store in Tacoma last April, 20.
The queue of attendees who did not want to miss the presence of the two comedians gave several turns to the local parking of Commencement Bay Cannabis.
Hundreds of fans holding albums from the 1970s and 1980s, did not want to miss a thing and they never looked away from the popular comedy duo.
Richard “Cheech” Marin and Tommy Chong spent more than two hours signing autographs and posing with their fans with whom they made “selfies”. The reason why they were there was to help celebrate the Puyallup Tribe’s grand opening of what has become its second cannabis store.
Cheech and Chong have always been great activists for the legalization of cannabis and, in addition, defenders of racial minorities in the United States. When it was his turn to receive his autograph, a fan asked if they were working, to which Chong responded: “this is not work”
The profits obtained from the store will be used to support education and social problems for the tribal members.
Ty Satiacum, the store’s chief of staff said he had no words to express his gratitude for having such a great icons who were some of the real pioneers that established the cannabis industry culture.
Cheech and Chong created the stoner comedy genre of film with their “Up in Smoke”. They created dozens of albums and films in which the common denominator was the enjoyment of marijuana.
On occasion they separated to follow their careers separately.
Tommy Chong had some legal troubles and was in prison for cannabis-related crimes. But he has recently appeared on the Fox show, “The Masked Singer”.
Cheech continued his career in some movies and television and he is now an important collector of “Chicano art”.
They got together again in the last decade and are very often performing in Indian casinos. The 20th of April or 4/20 is a cannabis holiday among weed fans. Many tribal members were present to celebrate the event. Everybody was talking about Cheech and Chong, which was very useful to create awareness of the cannabis medical program presented in the Casino.
Puyallup elder Teddy Simchen, who is now 67, said that he used to listen to the two comedians when he was in his 20s.
