2014 Emmys: Marijuana takes center stage

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2014 Emmy shockers and scandals

Sofia Vergara, Seth Meyers, Sarah Silverman and the latest crop of red carpet disasters

LOS ANGELES – The 66th Annual Primetime Emmys might have lacked in laughs, but it still managed to hit plenty of “high” notes.

Monday night’s telecast was peppered in jabs and jokes centered on pot – which is legal for medical purposes in the state of California – and perhaps signifies how vast the movement is gaining acceptance across the country.

“Cable is looking at Netflix the way Justin Bieber looks at One Direction, through a cloud of marijuana smoke,” host Seth Meyers said in his opening monologue, mocking the pop prince’s various alleged encounters with marijuana-centric controversies.

Haley Delany later praiseD her “Louie” TV father Louis C.K in a pre-taped video for educating her on “how to properly hold a joint,” while Jimmy Kimmel took aim at actor Matthew McConaughey for selling his television “for a conch shell full of weed.” Amy Poehler took the marijuana antics one step further by declaring that McConaughey and his “True Detective” co-star Woody Harrelson are “menu items at most marijuana dispensaries.”

Singer Adam Levine also gave us a small fist pump in support of the legalization of marijuana in the United States. But it was Sarah Silverman’s weed-promoting antics throughout the evening that garnered the most attention.

“This is my pot, my liquid pot,” she enthused on the red carpet, pulling out her vaporizer pen and later insisting that her purse must-haves are a “phone and pot… and gum.”

The comedienne went on to win the award for Outstanding Writing in a Variety Special for her HBO Comedy Special “Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles,” kicking off her shoes and running fiercely to the stage where she declared that “we’re all just made of molecules and we’re all hurling through space right now.”

But the oddities didn’t end there. A distracted Silverman attributed her questionable actions to “feeling weird” having just watched the Robin Williams tribute, and insisted that she wasn’t stoned.

“I don’t drink. I like to have a puff as a treat at appropriate times,” she continued, also noting that she brought some pot-based goods for later in the evening.

MORE: Sarah Silverman: Yes, I got high after Emmys

However, the nonsensical rhetoric was particularly evident after she was asked what her Jewish mother would think of her accepting such an award sans footwear.

“Well my Jewish mom wears overalls with two different color socks so I think she’d go, think it was cool. But don’t tell anyone I’m doing this. They just hurt, the shoes just hurt,” Silverman rambled. “They’re very nice. They’re by Geppetto. I remember that because he made Pinocchio and also clearly designed shoes for the Nazi war effort. Don’t be mad at me.”

Even when the cameras weren’t rolling, Silverman’s potentially pot-peppered ways went on. As she left the Nokia Theater and made her way down the street to the Governor’s Ball, her heels still in her hand, Silverman seemed strung out about missing her purse – abruptly stopping in her tracks to try and sort the matter out.

The pot-themed awards show wasn’t lost on audiences either.

“Was this the first Emmys since pot was legalized or something?” one viewer tweeted, others called it something of a “stony night” while another quipped: “let’s give it up for the real winner tonight – I’m talking of course, about pot.”

As it stands, 23 states and DC have legislation allowing medical marijuana usage; with the issue of decriminalizing pot use altogether a growing topic of debate ahead of the 2016 Presidential election.

But the promotion of pot at the Emmy Awards is likely just the beginning. According to multiple reports, the hand-held Haze Vaporizer by Haze Technologies will be featured in the official Oscars 2015 gift bag. While e-cigarettes have previously been nestled in the goodie bag, this will mark the first time a marijuana-focused vaporizer will be rolled – pun intended – inside.

Follow @holliesmckay on Twitter.

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