Pubdate: Wed, 20 May 2009
Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC)
Page: 4
Copyright: 2009 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular)

OLYMPIC TOKE?

2010 Torch Reminds Many Of Marijuana Joint

All hail - or inhale - the 2010 Olympic Torch.

Or, as it's jokingly known around Vancouver, the Olympic Toke.

Composed of stainless steel, aluminum and sheet moulding, the torch 
was designed to invoke snow, ice, skiing and skating, but to many, 
the metre-length white torch looks suspiciously like a marijuana 
joint, especially when lit.

That the torch bears a resemblance to Vancouver's biggest cash crop 
was evident right away to Jodie Emery, editor of Cannabis Culture magazine.

"A lot of people come to Vancouver because it's marijuana-friendly so 
I think people who already enjoy a joint themselves will feel a 
little more kinship to the Olympics," said Emery, who ran this month 
as a Green Party candidate in the provincial election.

"I'm sure the organizers didn't intend for it to look like a joint, 
but that's what a lot of people are seeing."

The association between toking and the Olympics didn't begin with the 
torch, of course.

At the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, Whistler skier Ross Rebagliati 
won, then lost, the gold medal in snowboarding after testing positive 
for marijuana. The medal was returned after Rebagliati explained he 
had inhaled second-hand smoke.

TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
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