Sometimes, when you combine a senator with marijuana, you end up with some grade-A dad jokes — and in this case, one of the best press releases ever written about the once-taboo herb. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah announced the Marijuana Effective Drug Study (MEDS) Act [1] on Sept. 13, and in his press release, he included a handful of shameless weed puns.
The puns are as follows:
- "It's high time to address research into medical marijuana."
- "Our country has experimented with a variety of state solutions without properly delving into the weeds . . ."
- "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."
- "I urge my colleagues to join Senator [Brian] Schatz and me in our joint effort to help thousands of Americans suffering from a wide range of diseases and disorders."
Oh, and to top it off, Hatch ended it by writing: "I have high hopes that this bipartisan initiative can be a kumbaya moment for both parties."
The MEDS Act includes bipartisan support from Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina and seeks to improve how readily available marijuana is for research and medical purposes. Hatch isn't the only senator trying to address marijuana in this country; Democratic Senator Cory Booker introduced the Marijuana Justice Act [3] just last month.