Marijuana: Comic looking for politico to smoke with after Tom Tancredo welches on pot bet

Tom Tancredo.

Update: Yesterday, we shared Florida-based comedian-filmmaker Adam Hartle's frustrated reaction after ex-Congressman Tom Tancredo welched on a bet to smoke legal pot together after the passage of Amendment 64; see our original coverage below.

Now Hartle tells us that he's had to edit Tancredo out of a trailer created to raise money for his planned A64 film because he doesn't want to mislead potential investors.

Tancredo, virtually the only high-profile Colorado Republican to campaign in favor of Amendment 64, told us last week that during an interview with Hartle, who spent time in Colorado last fall collecting footage for his documentary, "we made a bet -- and even though I was supporting 64, I bet that it was going to go down. He said, 'I don't think it is.' And then he said, 'If it passes, will you smoke a joint with me?' And I said, 'Sure,' not thinking it was going to pass. But it did."

Tancredo held a 2010 campaign event alongside Dog the Bounty Hunter at the Grizzly Rose, a well-known country music venue and bar.

Initially, Tancredo, who's never used marijuana, told us he was going to pay off the wager, albeit with conditions -- he'd take a single puff , but also argue that people should steer clear of weed, which he considers risky even if it's as safe or safer than alcohol. But as publicity accrued and pressure mounted, particularly from members of his own family, Tancredo went back on his pledge.

Hartle reacted with a long essay on view below that expressed displeasure that he had to learn about this reversal through the media rather than via Tancredo himself and questioned the onetime gubernatorial candidate's rationale for reneging. Afterward, however, he realized he had another problem: The video sampler he'd created for an IndieGoGo page to raise funds for his movie ended with the Tancredo bet and a graphic that reads, "Please help us get Congressman Tancredo Rocky Mountain high."

That wouldn't do, as Hartle makes clear in a new post on his website. He writes:

I've been upset about this whole thing because it cost me three days of post-production. I can't in good conscience put a clip in a trailer for a scene that won't take place in a movie, no matter how much attention this story gets, so it had to be re-done. Lucky for me there's a harmless plant on Earth that's a natural mood enhancer and the new trailer is even better. I have no ill will towards Tom, and perhaps one day we'll be able to hang out again together like the last interview, where I was the only one high. In the meantime, the search for Tom's replacement for that scene continues for me. Politicians do so many illegal things, surely I can find one to do something legal.

Unfortunately, the new trailer isn't embeddable -- but you can see it when you visit the IndieGoGo address, where donations have been picking up. Late last week, only a little over $600 had been pledged toward Hartle's $40,000 goal. At this writing, the total is at $5,782 with 52 days to go.

Continue to read our original post about Tom Tancredo welching on his bet with comedian-filmmaker Adam Hartle, including the original trailer.