Ex-speaker Boehner joins cannabis firm

DENVER – Former House speaker John Boehner dropped his long-held opposition to marijuana to join the board of a rapidly expanding cannabis company.

Boehner, who left the House in 2015, briefly served on the board of tobacco giant Reynolds American after his retirement. He said in a statement Wednesday that his thinking on marijuana has “evolved,” prompting him to join New York-based Acreage Holdings, along with former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, also a Republican.

“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 tweeted.

For decades, the federal government has classified marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance, treated on par with heroin and cocaine.

Thirty states permit medical marijuana use, and nine states and the District of Columbia permit recreational use by adults.

Legalization advocates expect Congress will have to reschedule marijuana at the federal level. A federal change could replace the patchwork of statelevel laws, permit distribution of marijuana across state lines and allow marijuana firms to get bank accounts.

“We’re regulated somewhere between alcohol and nuclear waste,” said Michael Bloom, CEO of marijuana company Bloom Farms.

More than 60% of Americans say recreational marijuana should be legal, double its support in 2000, according to a Pew poll in January.

Backing for medical marijuana is even stronger: 88% of Americans say medical cannabis should be legal, according to a CBS News poll in 2017.

Some cities and states wrote their legalization rules to help convicted drug dealers get marijuana sales licenses, and prosecutors in California wiped out drug possession convictions for some low-level offenders.

Longtime legalization advocate Dan Riffle said, “Disappointing to see MJ movement folks doing a victory lap over the Boehner news ... . If cannabis stores were mostly run by black felons, I’d celebrate. That this guy can go straight to the front of the line shows we’re failing.”

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law, or NORML, repeatedly rated Boehner as an “anti-legalization” politician.

Legalization opponents, who have tried to tie the marijuana industry to Big Tobacco, mocked the announcement.

Kevin Sabet of Smart Approaches to Marijuana argued that the United States should consider decriminalizing marijuana instead of creating an industry selling an intoxicating substance.

“Another rich white guy trying to cash in from pot? Shocked. Shocked, I say!”he tweeted.

Acreage has operations in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland.

“Another rich white guy trying to cash in from pot? Shocked. Shocked, I say!”

Kevin Sabet Smart Approaches to Marijuana

As House speaker, John Boehner opposed marijuana. CAROLYN KASTER/AP