Sam Newman smokes bong on The Footy Show
WATCH NOW: THE Family Council of Victoria has slammed Sam Newman's bong stunt saying, "It's all about ratings."
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THE Family Council of Victoria has slammed Sam Newman's bong smoking stunt on The Footy Show last night as cheap and "immature".
The stunt on the Channel 9 show last night was in response to recent reports of a push by the AFL to take marijuana off the match-day banned list.
Bemused viewers couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw Newman produce the marijuana-smoking paraphernalia from beneath the desk and inhale.
"I tell you this Garry, did we see in the paper that the AFL are now going to prohibit marijuana from being on the banned list of drug taking, did I make that up?'' Newman said.
"Well thank god because this has given us a chance,'' Newman said as he revealed the bong to the audience.
"Let me tell you just how this would work Garry, I've been waiting for the old marijuana to be taken off'.''
Newman then lit the bong and smoked it.
"My goodness me, wow," he said.
"We might still get beaten but we don't give a s*** any more because we can smoke the ganja.
"My gee, I suddenly got hungry, you couldn't give us a kilo of butterfly wings and a piece of python thigh could ya?''
Footy Show co-host Garry Lyon later told the audience that Newman had smoked tea - and not marijuana.
AFL spokesman James Tonkin told the Herald Sun this morning he wouldn’t comment.
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Family Council president Peter Stevens said drug-taking could lead down a dangerous path and shouldn’t be made light of.
“From my experience with young people I’ve found that marijuana can lead to a lifetime of addiction, pain and even more. So to make light of something that’s devastated thousands of people’s lives is, I think, very immature and inappropriate.
“It’s all about ratings,” Mr Stevens said.
The father of a man who died of a drug overdose also hit out.
Tony Trimingham, whose son Damien died of a heroin overdose 15 years ago, said marijuana was “illegal and stupid” and said he didn’t approve of the stunt.
“These kind of stunts do it I suppose to gain attention and gain an audience, which I don’t approve of,” Mr Trimingham, who runs the NSW-based Family Drug Support Group, said.
Viewers took to Twitter with mixed responses to the clowning co-host's actions.
“Sam Newman smoking a Bong on The Footy Show?! did that actually just happen or did I just have one too many??" Greg Saint tweeted.
While many lauded the funnyman’s take on the AFL’s new anti-doping push, others weren’t so impressed.
“Is Sam Newman psychotic? U can't smoke a bong on national tv! Surely there will be consequences 4 that!” said Twitter user Sharon.