Changing Minds with the Changing Times

Boehner's New Position on Marijuana

The marijuana industry has had an exciting few days with the recent support of former speaker of the house John Boehner. John Boehner, a Republican, who has been know to strictly oppose the use of marijuana, recently announced that he has had a change of heart after seeing how it helped a close friend of his deal with back pain. 

Boehner recently joined the board of advisers of Acreage Holdings, which is a cannabis corporation that operates in 11 states. “I’m convinced de-scheduling the drug is needed so we can do research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities,” Boehner recently wrote on Twitter. 


The legal marijuana industry is growing rapidly, and is estimated to be worth around fifty billion dollars. Acreage is looking to become one of the top businesses in the game, and with Boehner now on board they may have a shot. 

Acreage is currently led by Kevin Murphy, who has a long history with Wall Street, and feels with his experience and his new diverse and powerful executive team, his company will be able to dominate the industry, the legal way. 

Other corporations in the game include "Seattle-based Privateer Holdings, which has raised $200 million from backers including Silicon Valley’s libertarian tycoon Peter Thiel." 

Many people are viewing Boehner's change of heart to be a clear signal as to the desires of the American public. Clearly, if such a prominent figurehead who had once been so opposed to the legalization of it can change his mind, then others may soon follow suit. 

Currently, the federal government, which is under control of the Republican Party, is not voting and regulating in line with what the rest of the American public seems to want. For example, a recent study by the Pew Research Center showed that sixty-one percent of Americans felt that marijuana should be legalized. 

However, this poll was also broken down into parties which showed that sixty-nine percent of democrats and only forty-three percent of Republicans support its legalization. So evidently, the federal government is following what its Republican supports desire rather than the national interest. 

While Boehner's change in position on marijuana legalization was an overall success for the marijuana industry, many people are still angry with him for once being so against it and for making it difficult for so many years to get legislation passed. Many people are now calling upon him to take on a more active role, and to help make amends to the people who were unnecessarily incarcerated for possession of marijuana. 

Another big name in politics that has also had a change of heart is Bill Weld, a republican, who was most recently Gary Johnson's running mate in the 2016 Presidential election. Weld has joined Boehner on the Acreage advising board. 

Weld told the Post, “I’d say that quite a few Republicans must have evolved and even reversed their thinking about marijuana.”

Both Boehner and Weld seem most concerned with the legalization of marijuana in order to help Veterans, which may also be a good selling point to get other conservatives on board with the legalization. Currently, twenty veterans commit suicide every day due to PTSD and other illnesses and ailments. Imagine how many lives could be saved if these veterans were to have access to marijuana treatment sooner. 

As most people know, the U.S. has been dealing with an opioid crisis that only seems to be getting worse. Politicians like Boehner and Weld believe that marijuana may be a promising "cure" to this crisis, acting as an "exit drug." 

Another interesting point to be made is that typically conservatives are against heavy government involvement, and instead support states' rights. Many conservatives are therefore pushing Boehner to focus more on the fight for states to be able to adopt their own policies to regulate marijuana, rather than simply working with the business to "navigate conflict between state and federal law," which of course is what this blog is all about!