Tommy Chong treating prostate cancer with 'hemp oil'

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"Cheech & Chong" actor Tommy Chong on Sunday revealed that he had prostate cancer, but he says "cannabis is a cure" instead of the cause.

"I was diagnosed with prostate cancer about a month ago, and I'm going to start treating it with cannabis oil or hemp oil or pot oil," the marijuana activist told CNN's Don Lemon, noting that Academy Award-nominated set decorator Rick Simpson claimed to have cured melanoma with medicinal hemp oil.

Chong explained that he believes he contracted cancer after being sentenced to nine months in prison over the distribution of marijuana bongs.

"That's my feeling, because I was totally healthy when I was in jail and I hadn't smoked pot before I went in jail, and then while I was in jail I was as clean as a whistle because they drug- tested me almost every single day," he recalled. "And I started having problems with my prostate."

"And so, I think there's a combination of the food and the fact that the prison itself of Taft, California, is built over the toxic waste dump and they have a thing there called valley fever that other prisoners were getting, and they don't know what it was, some sort of wasting disease, so I think that -- I think I got it there."

The actor insisted that he had actually quit smoking for about a year after his health issues began.

"I'm a very holistic person who went on the juices and everything, you know. No red meat and the whole bit, and so -- but now that I found out that the hemp oil will help the prostate, hey, I'm back, man," Chong said.

But he now agrees that the drug "makes some people crazy."

"And I also played golf, so I took the medicine early one morning, and I got really stoned, and I -- I went to the golf range and I couldn't play. I couldn't hit the ball. I felt like I never picked up the club before and it was weird, because here, I'm Tommy Chong, you're supposed to be able to do everything stoned and I couldn't hit the ball once. It was sad."

The actor added: "It does affect you mentally, you know. Pot does, and there's no way around that part, you know, and it affects some people spiritually, like myself, for instance, you know. I've really gotten into the spiritual world deep, thanks to my ingestion of the magic weed."

Watch this video from CNN's Newsroom, broadcast June 10, 2012.