Tommy Chong Talks Weed
This article by Daniel Crawford and Jessica Reilly-Chevalier first appeared in the Flower edition of Fat Nugs Magazine, published September 2025.
Tommy Chong has been smoking weed for a long time. A really long time. Long before anyone in Hollywood knew his name, Chong was playing in a blues band in Calgary, Canada in the mid-1950s. One night at a jazz club, Tommy received a Lenny Bruce album from a fellow musician who also gave him his first joint. It was an unknown strain from Mexico, and a few puffs would forever change the trajectory of 17-year-old Chong’s life. Chong describes his first time hearing jazz music while high with the reverence of a religious experience. From there, he embarked on a “lifelong quest for the magic buds.” He tried temple balls, which he calls “THC at its finest”, hash from Afghanistan, and Thai Stick from Thailand, crediting the power of the sun with creating such potent strains. He brought weed to the big screen in Up in Smoke (which he tells us, used no actual weed smoke in the movie!) and served time in prison for “selling paraphernalia.” He’s experienced dry season in prohibition, where dealers would roll “dust” into pinners to sell for a few dollars, and the green wave of legalization, with three cannabis brands across 12 states. Suffice to say, a lot has changed. But what hasn’t changed is Chong’s love for the plant, evident in even a short conversation with him.
6 Questions with Tommy Chong
How old were you when you smoked your first joint?
Tommy Chong: Just turned 17 and I was playing in a blues band. I had no idea what it was. A musician from another band gave me it. I knew it was a marijuana cigarette, and I wasn’t that thrilled. I put the one he gave me in my pocket, so he lit up his own. That was the one that got me stoned for the first time in my life. It literally changed my life because I heard music, really for the first time, and I understood so much. And when he gave me the joint, he also gave me a Lenny Bruce comedy record. Lenny brought a lot of attention to freedom of speech and was actually jailed for his comedy. And so when I got the joint and the comedy record, it was like a sign from God.Was any of the cannabis real in the movies you’ve acted in?
Not in Up in Smoke for sure! Because we really tested the boundaries [with that movie]. Especially when you put cops in the mix. We had cops get loaded and even though they’re actors, you are still playing with public perception. When I wrote the movie, I really wanted to stress how involved the police were in the cannabis movement right from the get-go.What’s your all-time favorite strain to smoke?
I haven’t found it yet! I’m still looking – I always say my favorite could be the next strain I smoke. It’s in the 10 Commandments that we should not judge. The reason you don’t want to judge is that this could be the one, or maybe the next one is the one. If you don’t judge, then everything is what it is. It’s not labeled good, bad, or illegal, or legal. You just let it be whatever it is.What’s your favorite way to consume?
Flower – in joints, hash, hash in joints.American or Canadian legal weed?
It’s a tie – I’m still looking into it! I love my craft weed, and I’ve heard Northern Manitoba has some good weed. I gotta get up there.How are you consuming most right now?
I gotta lay off smoking until my ear problem heals so I got these little breath strips, Tommy Chong breath strips with 20mg of THC. Cheech said they’re his favorite too!
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