back to article Not quite the Bake Off they were expecting: Canadian seniors served weed-infused brownies

Ontario oldsters were left dazed and confused after munching their way through a succulent platter of cannabis-laced chocolate brownies. Canada's CBC reported that several people needed medical attention after wolfing down the hash cakes. There was, however, no mention of herds of zimmer-equipped elderly heading to the nearest …

  1. LoPath
    Trollface

    High Grandma, how ya doin?

    1. zuckzuckgo Silver badge

      Grandma knew this was a pot luck dinner.

  2. Blockchain commentard

    I thought someone had already spiked Westminster's cookie supplies.

    1. Korev Silver badge
      Joke

      Isn't that banned under the GDPR?

  3. GrapeBunch

    Ask not for whom the bong bowls

    O Ca-na-bis, our OM and naif lad!

    Seriously, though, pot is among those medicines that should never be given to the unsuspecting. Some people react poorly to it, they should be given the opportunity to say "No, thank you." Almost as bad, even the ones who enjoy it may be disconcerted by the lack of warning. Am I high, or am I finally, irrevocably, Losing It? Tell Laura I love her.

    1. Cuddles

      Re: Ask not for whom the bong bowls

      "pot is among those medicines that should never be given to the unsuspecting"

      No shit. The list of medicines that should never be given to the unsuspecting is all of them.

  4. Conundrum1885

    Re. Space Cakes

    Actually for the "proper" mind bending experience use copious nutmeg as well.

    Supposedly this recipe was developed by some guy in the Midwest, to get it right requires a lot of effort but well worth it.

    1. Jim Mitchell

      Re: Re. Space Cakes

      "Copious"? Nutmeg is toxic at large doses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutmeg#Psychoactivity_and_toxicity

      1. Rich 11

        Re: Re. Space Cakes

        Water is toxic in large doses. So is oxygen.

        1. Stumpy

          Re: Re. Space Cakes

          Have you ever stopped to consider that Oxygen might be toxic at any dose, and that it just takes 70-80 years for it to kill you?

          1. Youngone Silver badge

            Re: Re. Space Cakes

            Have you ever stopped to consider that Oxygen might be toxic at any dose, and that it just takes 70-80 years for it to kill you?

            Wooo, Stumpy man, no way!!

            Hey, hey hey...

            Hey, did you ever notice how weird my hands look? They look sort of like a bunch of bananas but they can moooove man!!

            Weird.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Re. Space Cakes

          But the difference in dosage between hallucinating and death for nutmeg is rather small, like heroin. It is not advised.

          Incidentally the "some guy in the Midwest" are Alice B Toklas and Gertrude Stein, authors of the famous/infamous Cookbook.

  5. Robert Moore
    Pint

    As a Canadian

    "However, feeding the stuff to unsuspecting seniors doesn't feature in the legislation."

    Not if you listen to the hard right politicians.

    I fully expect Trudeau to be handed his walking papers in the next election, and legal pot to disappear within a year after that. I have already heard the words "Failed experiment" being spoken by some on the right.

    1. cornetman Silver badge

      Re: As a Canadian

      Here in Canada, the "experiment" has been pretty much a damp squib.

      It's not really made much of a difference other than the decriminalization of a large section of the population.

      What is clear is that the legislation surrounding cannabis here has become an awful lot more complex than it used to be. I fully suspect a lot of people would prefer the simplicity of what we had before.

      1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

        Re: As a Canadian

        "It's not really made much of a difference other than the decriminalization of a large section of the population."

        If de-regulation has been accompanied by no discernable downside, then that in itself *ought* to be welcomed by the hard right, since they are always banging on about red tape and interference by government in people's private lives.

        1. Adrian 4

          Re: As a Canadian

          If the UK right is in any way representative, the desired reduction in government interference is more than matched by an increase in personal meddling and control of their neighbour's business.

          The USA, as always, appears to make it many times worse by adding religious intolerance to the package.

        2. Ole Juul

          Re: As a Canadian

          "If de-regulation has been accompanied by no discernable downside, . . . "

          The thing is that it has been de-criminalized, not de-regulated. We now have an awful lot of regulations which we didn't have before. This is making it hard for smaller concerns who now are in a different kind of jeopardy than before. Many regular users are not happy with the change.

          1. Roger Varley

            Re: As a Canadian

            Interesting point.

      2. Barry Rueger

        Re: As a Canadian

        For the majority of the population legalization has long ago ceased to be topic for discussion. It just isn't a big deal, and most towns already have had grey-market "medicinal" pot stores for many years.

        While the claim was that pot was being legalized, the Liberal government has more accurately just changed they ways that pot is illegal. The legislation is a real dog's breakfast.

        As for the right-wing Conservatives repealing the changes? It won't happen because many of the biggest investors and board members of the new cannabis corporations are card-carrying Tories, including a couple of former "law and order" types who previously were all in favour of mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug offences.

    2. georgezilla Silver badge

      Re: As a Canadian

      What would anyone on the right know anything about it? Let alone anything about experiments.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: As a Canadian

        Well, over here they had enough of experts, and everything went absolutely perfectly thereafter.

  6. Korev Silver badge
    Joke

    So spacecakes for OAPs, is this a form of joint replacement?

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Well, they used to be hip.

  7. Mark 85

    The rest probably just felt a bit groovy, put on some modern jazz and came up with an answer to what lies beyond the visible universe, the origins of Dark Matter and, of course, a solution to Brexit's Irish "backstop".

    Also perhaps lying on the floor and seeing the cosmos in the process. Given the age group, probably uttering "wow", "far out", and "groovy" which they haven't uttered in probably 40 years or more. The concept of a 'love in" does create a need for mind bleach however.

    1. georgezilla Silver badge

      Hang on a minute ....

      Hey be careful. My first name is Grandpa. Soon to become Great-grandpa.

      Oh, I live in Washington State where it's been legal for a couple of years. And I do have my favorite local shop. :)

      1. Mark 85

        Re: Hang on a minute ....

        I am being very careful as I'm one of a certain age also and in the next state south of you. Shall we sing a chorus of "Don't Bogart That Joint"?

  8. Chris G

    Cool! Dude!

    I think a lot of you underestimate preceding generations. Being a retired farty I can tell you that few of my generation haven't tried the occasional blast back int the '60s. Also back in the '60s at a party that my dad (who was a cool dude) was attending with me and a lot of my mates, someone was skinning up , glanced at my dad and said ' you don't mind do you?. The old man replied ' I was rolling those in the Western Desert in the 1940s, I don't think I'll be shocked.

    One of the aunts of my girlfriend at the time was a coke snorting flapper in the roaring twenties so turning on is nothing new.

  9. martinusher Silver badge

    Imagine the senior 50 years ago....

    A typical senior citizen of today (like myself) was in their 20s 50 years ago. Back then there was quite a bit of "Turn on, tune in, drop out" going on although most of us were not quite as evangelistic about it as Tim Leary or Ken Keysey. So serving up hash brownies at a senior function isn't that big a deal -- now, as then, you shouldn't spring the stuff on the unsuspecting, its grossly impolite and a waste of material. On a practical note its a good idea to keep edibles under wraps to prevent people accidentally eating too many (resulting in what's called in today's argot "couch lock") and its obviously a good idea to keep lots of safe goodies about.

    BTW -- Our local pot shop -- sorry, "dispensary" -- offers a 20% senior discount.

    1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

      Re: Imagine the senior 50 years ago....

      Yes, but they don't remember any of that so it's like a totally new experience, man.

    2. phuzz Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Imagine the senior 50 years ago....

      That was my first thought as well. My mum's in her late sixties, so she grew up in the Sixties, and quite frankly if someone gave her a space cake today she'd probably enjoy getting stoned again.

  10. georgezilla Silver badge

    talking to that tree ...

    " ... why is Gramps talking to that tree? ... "

    What's wrong with talking to trees. I know people that a most definitely not as smart as one.

    ( yes I live in the U.S. , and I know that we're not the only place. But we are a large country, so we have many more then most. )

    1. Warm Braw

      Re: talking to that tree ...

      What's wrong with talking to trees

      This.

    2. Anonymous Custard
      Trollface

      Re: talking to that tree ...

      The problems only start when they begin talking back...

    3. Prst. V.Jeltz Silver badge

      Re: talking to that tree ...

      yep , you have the smartest trees , and lots of em!

  11. Teiwaz

    several people needed medical attention

    These days you can't help being suspicious of phrases like that passed to the news media. What with spin to out and out manipulating the facts in favour of some agenda.

    By 'needed' were they in obvious distress, or 'needed' they were being a handful and 'needed' something to calm them down and make them 'manageable' again.

    1. Mark 85

      Re: several people needed medical attention

      If needing to be calmed down is what happened then they weren't doing it right.

    2. Carpet Deal 'em

      Re: several people needed medical attention

      It's quite likely that the needed medical attention was for injuries sustained due to bad decisions/poor balance, rather than a direct result of the pot. Senior events tend to include more fragile individuals, after all.

  12. Black Betty

    Sneaky edibles are not cool man.

    Back in my heyday, before I poked golf ball sized holes in my lungs, I could (and occasionally did) rip through up to a 1/4 oz (7g) in a day, whilst remaining upright and mostly functional.

    However, on the few occasions edibles were passed around, overindulgence invariably led to communion with Ralph. Southern Comfort mixed with scrumpy would be a pale comparison.

  13. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. DJO Silver badge

      Hardly surprising, it takes a while for it to have an effect through the stomach lining as opposed to the almost instant hit when smoked.

      Consequently people can easily take far too much without realizing it until too late. Much too late.

  14. Bruce Woolman

    Eating too much cannabis often results in a very anxious uncomfortable disorienting protracted high.

    Just ask columnist Maureen Dowd. Nasty trick to play on anybody... young or old. Very hard to gauge dosage in a brownie. Digestive processes potentiate the psychoactive compounds. Go easy with the edibles you space cadets.

  15. Jeffrey Nonken

    Barney Miller S3E11 "Hash". Unfortunately they have since cut Harris's best line.

  16. Conundrum1885

    RE. nutmeg

    Yes there may be an issue but as far as risk goes it is a lot smaller than cannabis. The main problem as others have mentioned is the risk of flying debris from escaped nutmegs.. Haven't tested it yet but I may do some more research as also working on technological psychedelics aka neural scanner hooked up to VR / immersion.

    Interestingly there have been very very few adverse effects compared with legal substances like alcohol. There is a

    Lot to be said for legalization and taxation also punishing someone by criminal record is a blunt instrument. Society needs to evolve.

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