'IF CANADA GOES FOR THAT, THEY REALLY SUCK'

SANTA MONICA -- Tommy Chong thinks the Drug Enforcement Agency's plan
to prosecute pot advocate Marc Emery should go up in smoke.

The former Vancouver resident and one-half of the stoner comedic
partnership of Cheech and Chong was shocked when told of Emery's
trouble with the DEA.

"They're going to extradite him down to the [U.S.] for something
that's not really a crime in Canada," Chong said at a party here
Friday night. "If Canada goes for that, they really suck."

Last year, Chong ran afoul of the U.S. war against drugs when he was
jailed for nine months after being found guilty on one count of
conspiring to sell drug paraphernalia across a state line.

"Look what happened to me for a bong," said Chong. "Imagine if I had a
seed in it -- I'd still be in jail.

"The DEA, their budget, it depends on pot busts. Pot busts are the
simplest, because we are the most harmless.

"What they did to me and what they are doing to a lot of people is
violating their civil rights. What they are really looking for is
diversion -- these guys are up to their eyeballs in wars and thievery,
Haliburton and Enron."