There’s a classic Wonderful Grand Band skit you can find online called Ron Gets Busted. In it, the beloved Man of a Thousand Songs gets hauled to the lockup after passing over a joint of marijuana to an undercover police office in a bar. Of course hilarity ensues at the lockup with the fine company he finds there, but the real laugh is when he calls home to tell his mother where he’ll be spending the night and his grandma – the one and only Nanny Hynes – picks up the extension. What follows is pure Newfoundland comedic gold.

Whacky Tabacky

Of course things would be different these days. Sharing your wacky tabacky wouldn’t get you picked up by the b’ys in blue anymore for one thing, plus it just might be nan who’s sharin’ her stash or out lookin’ for a hit. 

Don’t think it’s happening? Guess again. A group of six women I know in their 50s and 60s had one of their usual cabin get togethers recently and decided to mix things up a bit. One of them brought along an edible – a piece of fudge laced with THC. Neither of the six had ever tried pot before, but admitted, with legalization, they felt curiosity without the guilt. The grannies boiled the kettle – cause ya knows a bit of tea goes with a hit of fudge – divvied up the pot-laced goodie and inhaled.  

While I’m sure it was one of those you had to be there moments to really appreciate the goin’s on, I’ll do my best to capture the reactions here on this page. One woman simply got tired. When she finally headed off to bed, she swears she had one of the best sleeps of her life. She’s now considering making a habit of takin’ a hit just so she can get more shut eye. Like ya would. Another lady spent her stone trying to daintily consume  one solitary cheesie; picture success by a thousand nibbles. Opposite to that, another of the friends turned savagely ravenous and wanted to consume everything in sight – except for that one cheesie her life-long friend was (get on with it!) still enjoying.

Weed-filled Feed

Of course, there’s one in every bunch, and one of the women had what’s known as a bad trip and got paranoid. Sucks to be her. Thankfully, one got the full benefit of the weed-filled feed and got first-time stoner silly.

Now, while these women (except the one who had the grand snooze) might never get high again, I’m hearing more and more stories like that. If I had a dime (pardon the pun) for every person I know who plans on sticking some herb under the tree for nan and/or pop to open on Christmas  morning – just for a laugh – I’d be rich. 

And why the heck not? My own son was looking forward to me – mostly a square goodie-two-shoes – coming home from work on that first pot-legalized day with a bag of ‘research’ for an upcoming story. Really, he was dying to see his mother stoned – figuring it would be good for a laugh. 

So will I partake? It could happen I suppose. I might come home from work one day and say pot, meet kettle! And sit down with more than just my tea pot.  If I do, I’ll be sure to call my own saintly mother to join me. While she’s no Nanny Hynes, I’m pretty sure we’ll have a laugh. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince her. After all, you can’t get busted for pot anymore, but we can certainly bust a gut; there’s no age limit on that. 

Pam Pardy Ghent, The Herald’s Managing Editor, can be reached by emailing [email protected]