Curiosity drove me to read Tommy Chong’s bestseller The I Chong - Meditations from the Joint. I was curious as to how Tommy Chong from the famous pot-parading comedy duo Cheech & Chong was locked up as a result of a nation-wide federal investigation. I was curious as to how a comedian that gained popularity (and wealth) from making jokes about drugs and authority would deal with jail time, and how the other inmates would treat him. I was curious to hear what Tommy himself had to say about the entire ordeal after the fact. And I was curious why the cover looks like a Che Guevara propaganda poster, complete with communist red background and him sporting a beret (although this one displays a pot leaf in place of the red star, of course).

  What makes this book unique is that it owes its existence, in part, to the Spirit (during meditation Tommy is open to receiving messages from what he understands as God). Before entering prison, Tommy received a message from the Spirit saying:

  "...all this was happening for a reason. I was going to jail, and I was going to meet people in jail who would help with my mission, whatever that mission was. I was told that the reason I had such good luck with the beginning of my career was because I was supposed to be helping others. The moment I started to think only of my own comforts was the moment things began to go wrong. This is the natural law of cause and effect."

  He points out that had the DEA not raided his home and had federal courts not sentenced him to nine months in Taft Correctional Facility, he would not have written this book or lobbied so strongly in support of N.O.R.M.L. (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws) and other pro-pot groups. He needed to reconnect with his spiritual self and his role in this life, and the book does a good job in explaining how he came to this realization.

  The raid at the Chong residence was one in fifty-six raids happening simultaneously on February 24^th, 2003 as part of Operation Pipe Dreams, an attempt by the federal government to crack down on the drug paraphernalia industry. The federal government had been observing and collecting information on Tommy’s bong producing glass/art studio, Chong Glass (actually his sons’, Tommy just financed it) for months. The interesting number - one. That’s the number of people, out of fifty-six, who instead of receiving house-arrest or probation were sentenced to doing time in federal prison for, "conspiring to sell drug paraphernalia over state lines". The one - Tommy Chong.

  Tommy offers the possibility that he, the acclaimed "Pope of Pot", is being used by the Bush administration as an example to others, especially the youth of the country, that the hippie way of life is dead. "The present government had singled me out, along with my hippie culture, and was intent on destroying the both of us." To make matters worse, the prosecution would press charges on his wife and son if Tommy did not plead guilty.

  The I Chong is divided into eighteen chapters, each beginning with a hexagram and quote from the I Ching, based on an ancient Chinese text called The Book of Changes. Tommy (who’s father is Chinese), took an interest to the fortune telling instrument and began doing readings for inmates at Taft. He also kept busy with constant gardening and even made an adobe furnace for pottery.

  "The truth is, if you stay creative, you can overcome anything, because when you are creating you are working hand in hand with the muse, who judges not. The greatest hurdle one must overcome in this life is self-judgement, the critical eye, the demons that fill your head with doubt and fears."

  Tommy Chong’s distinctive voice is prominent throughout, and the reader is made aware of this right away. In the beginning sentences Tommy describes his first moments on Earth, claiming to recall thinking "Now this is some fresh sweet air! It was very stuffy and crowded in that little womb." The first twenty or so pages are devoted to Chong’s upbringing in Canada, while the entire second half of the book focuses on Chong’s time in jail. Stuck in between are moments of clarity and spiritual thoughts - which he admits come to him in spurts and asks the audience to forgive his spontaneity.

  Tommy also attempts to rationalize what is going wrong in a country where ten percent of the population wakes up every morning in jail. He blames the human ego, or false sense of self, for many of the worlds’ problems today, "The ego is the personality we create in order to protect ourselves from other egos." He blames unawareness of media control, "And the truth is, you don’t wake up from this dream until you die or go to jail, where you are confronted daily with the real truths, that we are all prisoners of the media." He blames big business, "The conglomerates control the drug trade - and I’m not talking heroin or coke or pot; I’m talking about prescription, doctor-approved, legal drugs that have become a multizillion-dollar industry, and useless and dangerous over-the-counter, symptoms-hiding, addictive narcotics that have hooked millions of Americans into spending billions of dollars on their habits daily."

  Part of the complication, Tommy goes on to say, is the current Bush administrations access to unchecked power, "The Bush people were on a mission, a crusade, ever since the events of 9/11. The terrorist act suddenly gave the Bush administration carte blanche to act in any manner they wanted. The Republicans seized on the opportunity to forward their own agenda. The people of the United States lost more than the World Trade Center and countless loved ones that fateful day. We lost our freedom." As luck would have it, out of three hundred and sixty-five calendar days, the day that Tommy Chong was to appear in court for sentencing was September 11^th, 2003.

  My only gripe with the book was Tommy’s fascination with the people in prison. He admits that when he was younger he looked up to those who had been in prison and his interest stays with him during his time in Taft. He recounts in great detail his conversations and activities with various inmates, from boccie ball to attending a religious ceremony inside a Natives’ sweat lodge (he spent his time at a minimum security camp for non-violent offenders). Also, the comparisons between Nazi Germany and the current state in America run throughout several chapters.

  Ultimately, Tommy Chong produces an enlightening, relevant first book about his life and the impact imprisonment has had on it. Although present, self-pitying is kept to a bare minimum but is understandable as the conditions of arrest do feel unfair. The work is definitely inspiring, and would lead almost anyone to question whether the twelve million tax dollars invested into Operation Pipe Dreams to take down a mambo-loving, peace-devoted, glassware advocate could have been better spent. If it was the old Cheech & Chong movies still replaying on Comedy Central that made the government want to make an example of him, however, this book surely will not build any new bridges.