Marin's career is smokin'

LOS ANGELES Who says you can't draft a new lease on life? Ask CheechMarin. He went from the woozy comedy of the marijuana generation tomaking kiddie movies and portraying cops.

Even for someone in Hollywood, it wasn't a slam dunk.

While some may remember Marin as the Latino half of theinterracial comedy team Cheech & Chong, most people know him now asDon Johnson's savvy sidekick on CBS' "Nash Bridges" and a star of thenew kids' movie "Paulie" (continuing at area theaters). He'll alsohost "The Latino Laugh Festival," premiering May 3 on Showtime.How he got there sounds like a story he would invent.It began when he was in college and joined others on his CalState …