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In an otherwise blithering address to the Red Chamber, Senator David Wells at least gave away what on earth his colleagues were talking about: “youth ages 12 to 17 will be able to possess up to five grams of dried cannabis before facing criminal charges,” he said. He contended this was “hidden away” in the bill — “hidden away in Division 1, Section 8(1)(c)” — and he called it “shocking.”

Trudeau-appointed “independent” Senator Frances Lankin suggested to Wells that it wasn’t “hidden” at all, inasmuch as he cited its location, and asked whether he would prefer children aged 12 to 17 be subject to criminal sanctions for small-scale possession.

“I did find it hidden there,” Wells protested. “There are lots of things hidden in there” — in the bill, he means, which is on the internet and everything.

Wells denied wanting to send 12-to-17-year-olds into the criminal system, but he also argued the bill as written “give(s) tacit approval” to the practice. By not making it criminal. Which he wouldn’t support.

Furthermore, Wells demanded to know, “Why doesn’t it say from age 1 to 17?”

So, yeah, that’s all bananas. The provinces are free to punish young people under the legal age for possession of any quantity of cannabis, to seize said cannabis and to fine the young people for having possessed it. And there is every reason to assume they will do just that, just as they do for alcohol. (“Imagine looking out across a classroom of 12 to 13-year-old children, all permitted to have a 26-er of Canadian Club on their desks.”)