Stoner icon says hemp oil to blame for tumour

Tommy Chong. Photo / iStock

Funnyman and stoner icon Tommy Chong is undergoing surgery to remove a tumour in his rectum in the hope it will end his painful battle with cancer.

The marijuana activist checked into the hospital in Los Angeles on Thursday shortly after appearing on US news show Access Hollywood Live, where he revealed he's desperate to close out his longtime health issues.

Chong won his battle with prostate cancer in 2012, insisting pot suppositories were a miracle cure, but earlier this year the comedian was diagnosed with rectal cancer - and he believes the hemp oil he used to beat his first cancer may be the cause of his latest crisis.

"When you go into your orifice you've got to clinically know what you're doing with it. I put suppositories up there and I don't know how they did the oil and so on, and so now I found a laboratory where they test and they make sure that the oil that they give you to inject and everything else is pharmaceutically correct, it's pure.

"When they legalised the weed here they're going to have all these safeguards in place so that when you buy your oil it will be properly identified."

He also believes his stint on TV show Dancing With the Stars is responsible for his latest diagnosis, adding, "I was under a lot of stress and then I wasn't smoking or doing any pot, and the pot keeps you from getting disease. I got it (cancer) during that."

Chong said he's now using cannabis around the clock in order to endure the pain of cancer, adding, "When you've got cancer you get unbelievable pain and the pot relieves the pain ... I haven't slept a complete night for months now."

He was, however, upbeat about his imminent surgery.

"I'm about to be operated on ... I get fitted with a new butthole. It's a bag, but it's brand new and I'm gonna tie-dye it.

"They're going to remove the tumour surgically ... It's going to be fine," he said.

Unfortunately, not all his friends and family members share his positive attitude - Chong admitted his wife Shelby is "a wreck", adding, "She's having a hard time."

- AAP