When the Mormons (who feel that Coca-Cola and tea are drugs to steer clear of) say that medicinal cannabis is a good idea, maybe there's something to it. US Senator and former Mormon Bishop, Orrin Hatch has introduced a bill to encourage more research into medical cannabis and it's potential as a treatment.
Speaking to the Senate, Hatch defended the use of medical marijuana (MMJ) saying it "“has the potential to help millions of Americans,” and “can truly change people’s lives for the better.”
<blockquote>“It’s high time to address research into medical marijuana,” he added. “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. 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.”</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/senate-stunner-orrin-hatch-passionately-defends-medical-marijuana">He later urges Congress to join in their "joint effort"</a> and expresses his "high hopes" for bipartisan cooperation in making the MEDS Act a reality.
Now, it may be a testament to my maturity (or lack of) but I can't help but wonder if Hatch knew what he was doing inserting words and phrases like "it's high time," "be blunt" and "delving into the weeds" while speaking about the importance of cannabis research. If he's trying to get a chuckle out of potheads, he should be advised that the game he is playing is the comedic equivalent of "fish in a barrel."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">the number of weed puns in sen. orrin hatch’s medical marijuana bill announcement are amazing <a href="https://t.co/vahN9Z1fhi">pic.twitter.com/vahN9Z1fhi</a></p>— kelly cohen (@politiCOHEN_) <a href="https://twitter.com/politiCOHEN_/status/908012095496695808">September 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Orrin Hatch used careful language in his medical marijuana announcement <a href="https://t.co/acGQ5YwqaM">pic.twitter.com/acGQ5YwqaM</a></p>— Axios (@axios) <a href="https://twitter.com/axios/status/908020825365852160">September 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The bill, entitled the Marijana Effective Drug Study Act (MEDS Act) is co-sponsored by Sens. Briant Schatz (D-HI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Thom Tillis (R-NC). Somewhat surprising to see a pro-Cannabis that is co-sponsored <i>primarily</i> by Republicans. The bill would also work to ensure that marijuana substances were not diverted or abused as well as working with the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) to publish recommendations for Good Manufacturing Processes (GMP) for both growing and producing marijuana used in research. The bill would require the attorney general to increase the national marijuana quote "in a timely manner" as well as preventing the Department of Health and Human Services from adding new protocols related to marijuana other than the voluntary review available from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expedite DEA registration.
It will be interesting to see <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/jeff-sessions-marijuana-quotes-about-pot-570177">what Jeff Sessions thinks</a> about his hand being called. Sessions believes that "funny cigarettes" are a "real danger." Which is quite ironic considering their relative safety compared to legal substances like <i>real</i> cigarettes, alcohol and even processed sugar and caffeine. Sessions has claimed in the past that ""Good people don't smoke marijuana," and once famously (or infamously) said of the KKK that he thought they "were OK until I found out they smoked pot.”
