Former Republican House Speaker John Boehner announced Wednesday that he is joining the board of Acreage Holdings, a self-described "investment company with an established footprint in the cannabis industry in the United States."
Previously, the nonprofit National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) had rated Boehner "hard on drugs" and given him a "zero percent" rating on legalization, meaning he was opposed to "all forms of marijuana decriminalization." In 2011, Boehner claimed to be "unalterably opposed to the legalization of marijuana" and said, "I remain concerned that legalization will result in increased abuse of all varieties of drugs, including alcohol."
Boehner acknowledged his change of heart in his announcement, tweeting that "my thinking on cannabis has evolved. 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."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, a libertarian Republican, also joined Acreage's board. "Both Boehner and Weld say they've never tried the drug," Fortune writes, noting that nevertheless recreational marijuana use is legal in nine states as well as Washington, D.C. Read the full announcement at Acreage here.
-
Aug. 12 editorial cartoonsCartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include ICE youth, the self-serving EPA, Vladimir Putin demanding Alaska back, and Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein
-
Nicola Sturgeon's memoir: making the personal politicalTalking Point Former Scottish first minister attempts to set record straight in 'Frankly' but does she leave more questions than answers?
-
Trump-Putin: would land swap deal end Ukraine war?Today's Big Question Ukraine ready to make 'painful but acceptable' territorial concessions – but it still might not be enough for Vladimir Putin
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profitsSpeed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
