Senator Nicole Eaton doesn't know the difference between tokes and joints, apparently. Photos via Senate of Canada/Flickr user Dank Depot
Canada is inching closer to weed legalization, with the senate expected to vote on whether or not to pass the government’s Cannabis Act today.But it’s not clear that all 93 Senators—33 of whom are Conservative—actually understand the basics, such as the rather significant difference between a joint and a toke.While reviewing the act, Conservative Senator Nicole Eaton, 73, seemed to mix up those two things.
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“Five grams is about four tokes,” she said in a committee hearing, with a chuckle. “So in other words, if I’m a high school student, I’m 16, I’ve got four tokes in my pocket, which is under five grams. So you just don’t take it away from me, but I’m allowed to possess it, right?.. I’m allowed to have less than five grams or I’m allowed to have zero grams, this is what I quite don’t understand.”OK, Senator Eaton, we’ll break it down for you.Five grams is not four tokes, because a toke is a nickname for when someone inhales weed—similar to a drag of a cigarette. A toke is not something you could store in your pocket. Typically, you could roll three joints with one gram of weed, so five grams would give you about 15 joints, and a whole lot more than 15 tokes.
As for youth possession, the government has stated that Canadians under the age of 18 caught with five grams of cannabis or less will not be charged criminally. However, provinces can set their own “zero tolerance” regulations that they can enforce with fines.Meanwhile, Conservative Senator Denise Batters is worried that the government’s proposed THC labels for legal weed look too much like Team Canada’s hockey logos.“Exact colours. So similar. #NotAppealingToYouth?” Batters tweeted.
The House of Commons has already passed the Cannabis Act, and it now awaits Senate approval. But with well-informed Senators like Eaton and Batters in the mix, what could go wrong?Follow Manisha Krishnan on Twitter.