a/k/a Tommy Chong

When comedy legend Tommy Chong was arrested in 2003 and given a nine-month prison sentence for the manufacture and sale of drug paraphernalia, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's revamped war on drugs soared, like a mighty eagle stricken with vertigo in mid-flight, to new levels of absurdity. Fortunately, filmmaker Josh Gilbert's cameras were rolling at the time, offering viewers a firsthand account of the vengeful American justice system in action. In addition to glamorizing drug use, prosecutors argued that Chong was also guilty of trivializing efforts by law enforcement agencies to combat drug proliferation. When all was said and done, Chong, along with 54 others, was indicted on federal charges. For two years, Gilbert's prying lens followed the highly publicized case, allowing an amusing and sometimes frightening portrayal of eroding civil liberties in modern-day America.