Up in Smoke

This space was supposed to be filled with a preview of The Marijuana-Logues, a pot-laced stage show that’s equal parts The Vagina Monologues and Cheech & Chong. Tommy Chong was even supposed to star in it. But the (more) slacker half of the stoner comedy duo got busted a while back for selling pot pipes online. He recently served time and is now on probation. He told us, by law, he wasn’t allowed to perform his own comedy show (in which he talks about his experiences with weed), but “They told me that The Marijuana-Logues was OK to do.” He assured us that the show would go on.

On the eve of the tour’s first performance in Tucson, Chong bowed out. The entire run — which was to include a stop at the Palace Theatre on Friday — is now expected to start this summer, when Chong’s parole ends. So, in lieu of the temporarily up-in-smoke Marijuana-Logues, we suggest spending Friday night with a Drug Movie Marathon. Head to the video store, grab a bag of Cheetos, and fire up a bowl or two with these herb-filled classics.

Friday — Ice Cube and Chris Tucker spend the end of the week getting high, arguing with their girlfriends, getting high, taking on the neighborhood bully, and getting high. The fact that Tucker’s character at one point snacks on a sugar sandwich tells you everything you need to know about this movie.

Reefer Madness — The granddaddy of all pot flicks is a 1938 cheapie in which teens are seduced by wacky tobacky. After a couple tokes, the all-American kids become maniacally dancing pop-eyed freaks. Weed is declared “The Real Public Enemy Number One!” at the film’s start. By the end — when a boy is committed to life in a mental institution because of his bud addiction — you’re wondering what the filmmakers were smoking when they made this.

Requiem for a Dream — A sobering look at drug addiction, from the viewpoints of a pill-popping widow, her junk-shooting son, and the kid’s coke-snorting girlfriend. By the time their respective habits have all but taken over their lives (a limb and dignity are two of the many things lost by the characters), you’ll reconsider that stash on the couch next to you.

Trainspotting — How far would an addict sink to get a fix? In this 1996 look at wayward Scottish youths plagued by unemployment, boredom, and various drugs, Ewan McGregor’s Renton dives into a feces-filled toilet to retrieve a dropped supply. Needless to say, this film can help fight off the inevitable munchies.

Up in Smoke — You can thank this 1978 Cheech & Chong relic for Dude, Where’s My Car?, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and approximately four dozen other slow-witted movies about a pair of buddies with a big bag of weed and way too much time on their hands. It jump-started an entire genre that’s still burnin’ today.

This article appears in Mar 2-8, 2005.