Cheech & Chong are so much a part of stoner culture that it’s only natural that they would become spokesman (or smokes-men) for a variety of products in the smoke shop industry – one of the best-selling is Cheech & Chong Glass from West Coast Gifts. We caught up with the comedy team to get the lowdown on their latest venture and a few thoughts on how and why they’re still smokin’.
HQ: What do look for in the products you endorse?
Cheech: When you suck in on the pipe, smoke comes out.
Chong: My level of acceptance is when the owner of the company takes you to a warehouse where they’ve got your product stacked to the roof for about a city block. To me that means that they’re serious and have a good business plan where they’re making quality stuff and making a lot of it which means they sell a lot.
HQ: And with West Coast Gifts creating your signature line of Cheech & Chong Glass?
Chong: The fact that we could do it without me going to jail was my main motivation. Honestly, the company that’s making the glass is using the best quality products that they can find. We started the whole genre, and it’s fitting that you can buy smoking materials with our faces on it.
HQ: How does glass compare to other smoking methods?
Cheech: I like glass most of all. I think it cools it just enough, and the longer the draw, the smoother smoke gets. Glass is that neutral conductor; it’s pure in my point of view.
Chong: You have to compare it to drinking out of like a wooden cup as opposed to fine crystal. If you’re going to put your lips on something you want something that’s silky and feels nice.
HQ: What form of cannabis do you guys like to smoke the best these day?
Cheech: I’m an O.G.. . .I like flower best of all. It gives you that taste and an immediate high.
Chong: I like flower too. . . I prefer Chong’s Choice weed because it’s organically grown by the best growers in America. You don’t have to smoke a lot. I’ve been teaching people that you only smoke a tiny little bit, and if you need more than you smoke a tiny little bit again. I’ve been trying to teach Cheech that for years, but he doesn’t listen.
Cheech: I’m hungry. I’m smoking a little bit of all the other weeds until Cheech’s private stash comes out.
HQ: Do either of you guys have a favorite pipe that you like to use?
Cheech: I do. It’s the “Chongdolf” pipe from our own line. It’s a long narrow one, like an old Dutch clay smoking pipe, but it’s made out of glass, and I love the size of the draw.
Chong: Personally, I like ALL the Cheech & Chong Glass products. I don’t have a favorite. . . as long as I’m smoking Chong’s Choice weed then I’m okay.
HQ: Who would you like to smoke with that you haven’t yet?
Chong: Cheech smoked with Putin.
Cheech: No. . . that was Put-a.
Chong: My guy is Paul McCartney. I’ve smoked with every one of the Beatles except him – he was the only Beatle that was a true stoner. George loved to get high, but Ringo was recovering from alcohol so he wasn’t actually smoking and neither was John Lennon. We met John Lennon at Lou Adler’s party. I lit up a big stinky joint and offered it to him, but he had immigration problems and he turned it down. We were still in the same room, so I consider it smoking with John Lennon.
HQ: How are the buds and intake methods nowadays as compared to back in the price days of your life?
Chong: People say that the dope now is a lot stronger than your grandfather’s, but I used to get comatose the first time I ever smoked back in the fifties, and I get the same effect now, so there’s no difference to me. A high is a high.
Cheech: One difference is that you don’t have to smoke as much.
HQ: And how about the intake methods?
Cheech: I like it through the mouth (lol)
Chong: You haven’t lived until you’ve tried the other way.
Cheech: Back in the day, you’d roll a joint or have a pipe. . . .
Chong: . . . or a little hash on the end of a pin, or you’d heat up a knife or spoon and put a little hash in the middle of it. There were all sorts of ways that we used to do it.
Cheech: Now. . . Cheech & Chong Glass makes dope better.
Chong: Just saying our names and looking at our pictures will get you high.
