When Justice Got Bonged: Mary Beth Buchanan Vs. Tommy Chong

When Justice Got Bonged: Mary Beth Buchanan Vs. Tommy Chong

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/analysis/552

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

Josh Gilbert's movie about the 2003 prosecution of Tommy Chong for the interstate sale of drug paraphernalia, a/k/a Tommy Chong, points out the ridiculous nature of the witch hunt against the taller half of Cheech and Chong. It all comes down to an ideological culture war waged by the dogmatically conservative Justice Department under Attorney General John Ashcroft.

More than Ashcroft, though, it was the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Mary Beth Buchanan, that waged this particular battle. Originally appointed to that position just a week before the 9/11 attacks in 2001, she also held a concurrent position between 2004 and 2005 as director of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, putting her in charge of all 94 of her colleagues around the nation.