Sen. Orrin Hatch Slips About 420 Pot Jokes Into Statement Backing Medical Marijuana Research

Getty

How many puns can one person fit into a six-line paragraph? Apparently quite a few.

Breaking away from the usually stuffy language used by Washington politicos, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch sent out a dope announcement about his new medical marijuana research bill, cramming it with some of the funniest pot puns he could find.

“It’s high time to address research into medical marijuana,” Hatch said in a statement Wednesday. “Our country has experimented with a variety of state solutions without properly delving into the weeds on the effectiveness, safety, dosing, administration, and quality of medical marijuana.”

See what he did there?

Also Read: Welcome to Hollyweed: Why TV Is Going to Pot

Hatch, a Republican, didn’t stop there.

“All the while, the federal government strains to enforce regulations that sometimes do more harm than good. To be blunt, we need to remove the administrative barriers preventing legitimate research into medical marijuana, which is why I’ve decided to roll out the MEDS Act.”

Hatch went on to drop a few more double entendres:

“I urge my colleagues to join Senator Schatz and me in our joint effort to help thousands of Americans suffering from a wide-range of diseases and disorders. In a Washington at war with itself, I have high hopes that this bipartisan initiative can be a kumbaya moment for both parties.”

Also Read: Norman Rockwell Museum Could Become a Marijuana Dispensary

The bill would promote more research on the potential medical uses of marijuana by streamlining the research registration process, making marijuana more available for legitimate scientific and medical research, retaining checks to protect against diversion or abuse of the controlled marijuana substances and requiring the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to develop and publish recommendations for good manufacturing practices for growing and producing marijuana for research, among others things.

Could we get behind it?

Yes, we cannabis!

Hooray for Holly-Weed: 19 Celebrity Stoners to Celebrate 420 With (Photos)

Hollywood stars don't shy away from being 420-friendly. Here are the biggest names in entertainment who like to roll up a blunt or hit a bong -- no matter what the date is.
Robert Mitchum

The O.G. of celebrity stoners was arrested on marijuana charges in 1948 and spent two months behind bars.
Flickr
Willie Nelson

The Red-Headed Stranger is notoriously no stranger to the green and announced that he was launching his own strain of premium weed back in 2015. We have no idea what took him that long.

Also Read: Merle Haggard Once Saved Willie Nelson From a Pot-Free Bus
Getty Images
Roseanne Barr

The "Roseanne" star, who smokes to alleviate her glaucoma, got into the weed biz in 2016 by investing in the dispensary Roseanne's Joint. She even famously got stoned an old episode of her show.
Getty Image
Chace Crawford

The former "Gossip Girl" star gave people plenty to wag their tongues about when he was arrested for marijuana possession in 2010.
Getty Images
Woody Harrelson

Might as well call him Weed-y Harrelson. Harrelson said he had given up smoking back in 2017, but he might've just traded in his bong for edibles.

Also Read: Woody Harrelson Applies for Pot Dispensary Permit in Hawaii
Frances McDormand

When she's not appearing in awesome projects like "Fargo" and "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," McDormand serves as a High Times cover girl.
Seth Rogen

The "Pineapple Express" actor not only knows his way around a bong, he's named names when it comes to his famous smoke-out pals.

Also Read: Seth Rogen’s ‘Sausage Party,’ and a Short History of Adult Animation
Cameron Diaz

The "There's Something About Mary" star has admitted that she used to buy weed from Snoop Dogg. Which leads us to ...
Getty Images
Snoop Dogg

We'd have to be completely high to leave him off of this list.

Also Read: Snoop Dogg Turns Sports Reporter for Super Bowl Week on ‘The Rich Eisen Show’
Getty Images
Miley Cyrus

It's like she's trying to kill Hannah Montana by suffocating her in a thick cloud of pot smoke.
Justin Timberlake

"Got that sunshine in my pocket." Timberlake says he smokes out because "sometimes I have a brain that needs to be turned off."
Getty Images
Whoopi Goldberg

The main ma'am of "The View" also recently got into the medical-marijuana game.

Also Read: Whoopi Goldberg Is Now a Weed Columnist and Really Loves Her Vaporizer Pen
ABC
Matthew McConaughey

Weed and naked bongo playing? Alright, alright, alright.
Lincoln
Sarah Silverman

Silverman doesn't leave home without it -- especially when she's hitting the red carpet.
NBC
Oliver Stone

More like Oliver Stoned.
Getty Images
Dawn Wells

Mary Ann from "Gilligan's Island" got popped for pot in 2008.
Dave Chappelle

The comedian shocked the world when he announced that he had stopped smoking weed -- but only with black people.
Comedy Central
Jennifer Aniston

"I mean, I enjoy it once in a while. There's nothing wrong with that. Everything in moderation," Aniston has said of marijuana.
Getty Images
Bill Maher

Bill Maher was a pothead long before his "Real Time" days, but in 2016 he made a case for medicinal marijuana by actually lighting up on live TV.
HBO

1 of 20

From Snoop Dogg to Dawn Wells, you have friends in high places to commemorate the marijuana enthusiast’s special 420 Day

Hollywood stars don't shy away from being 420-friendly. Here are the biggest names in entertainment who like to roll up a blunt or hit a bong -- no matter what the date is.

View In Gallery