cannabisnews.com: John Boehner Joins Marijuana Firm’s Advisory 
function share_this(num) {
 tit=encodeURIComponent('John Boehner Joins Marijuana Firm’s Advisory ');
 url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/29/thread29267.shtml');
 site = new Array(5);
 site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500');
 return false;
}






John Boehner Joins Marijuana Firm’s Advisory 
Posted by CN Staff on April 11, 2018 at 07:43:32 PT
By Jennifer Kaplan
Source: Bloomberg
USA -- The U.S. marijuana industry has a new spokesman: John Boehner.The Republican former Speaker of the House has joined the advisory board of Acreage Holdings, a company that cultivates, processes and dispenses cannabis in 11 U.S. states. Boehner’s endorsement, after saying nine years ago he was “unalterably opposed” to legalization, could be considered a watershed event: Marijuana has gone mainstream.
“Over the last 10 or 15 years, the American people’s attitudes have changed dramatically,” he said in an interview. “I find myself in that same position.”Sixty-four percent of Americans, including a majority of both Republicans and Democrats, want to legalize it, according to an October Gallup survey. That’s the most since the pollster began asking the question in 1969, when 12 percent of the population favored legalization.Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld will join Boehner on the advisory board of Acreage, which holds 35 licenses for cannabis businesses in the U.S. Boehner, 68, was first elected to the House of Representatives from Southwest Ohio in 1990. He was Speaker from 2011 to 2015, when he resigned amid problems with an increasingly fractious Republican caucus. Since then, he’s served as a board member for tobacco company Reynolds American Inc. and adviser for global law firm Squire Patton Boggs US LLP. Weld, 72, who was governor from 1991 to 1997, was the Libertarian Party’s candidate for vice president in 2016.‘Immensely Positive’“We view this advocacy that we get from these two gentlemen as immensely positive for the industry,” said George Allen, Acreage’s president.The two former Republican politicians join Acreage as current officeholders vacillate on their support for weed. President Donald Trump has gone back and forth, while Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a longtime opponent. The Justice Department in January rescinded the Obama-era policies that allowed state legal pot markets to flourish.Both Boehner and Weld say they’ve never tried the drug, but adult recreational use is legal in nine states and Washington, D.C. That means more than one in five American adults can partake. Twenty additional states allow for some form of medical marijuana. The legal market is expected to reach $75 billion by 2030, according to the investment bank Cowen & Co.Still, the drug remains federally illegal and is classified as a Schedule I narcotic, the harshest of five government ratings.Supported ReferendumWeld said he’s been in favor of medical marijuana since 1992 and supported the referendum that legalized recreational pot use in his home state in 2016.“I was a little bit ahead of the field there,” he said in an interview.Even so, his belief in the functionality of the plant has grown, he said, especially when it comes to easing the opioid crisis.“Cannabis could be perceived as an exit drug, not a gateway drug,” he said.Boehner said his perspective shifted after he saw the plant’s efficacy in helping a close friend deal with debilitating back pain. Marijuana’s potential use as a treatment for veterans helped sway him, too. Plus he’s been studying the problems of the U.S. criminal justice system for years.“When you look at the number of people in our state and federal penitentiaries, who are there for possession of small amounts of cannabis, you begin to really scratch your head,” Boehner said. “We have literally filled up our jails with people who are nonviolent and frankly do not belong there.”10th AmendmentOn top of all those reasons to support the plant, Boehner and Weld say the debate over legalization is, at its core, a discussion of the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which allows states to do what they want.“If some states don’t want marijuana to be legal, that’s their prerogative,” Weld said. “But that shouldn’t be dictated by the nanny state in Washington.”Despite the GOP mostly lauding the amendment, Republican politicians have been split on the cannabis issue. Sessions’ harsh words for marijuana, and his decision to roll back Obama-era protections, didn’t deter Boehner or Weld’s decisions to get involved with the industry, they said.“When I saw the announcement, I almost chuckled to myself,” Boehner said, referring to the policy reversal. “I don’t know why they decided to do this. It could be that the attorney general is trying to force the Congress to act.”Winding RoadThe politicians’ years in public office may help the company navigate the winding road to federal legalization.“When it comes to an issue like this, that has what I’ll call murky legal issues and political issues, we’re there to provide advice to Acreage in terms of how they work with state and federal governments, how they work with local governments and advice on what states look promising,” Boehner said.Neither Boehner nor Weld has made a financial investment in Acreage, though Weld says he’s considering it.“Millennials who will inherit the kingdom before long, they are even more positive about cannabis than the populous at large,” Weld said. “You can look at the trend of millennial opinion and you can see the future.”Source: Bloomberg.com (USA)Author: Jennifer KaplanPublished: April 11, 2018Copyright: 2018 Bloomberg L.P.Contact: cpalmeri1 bloomberg.netWebsite: http://www.bloomberg.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/AHXXiBEfCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help 
     
     
     
     




Comment #5 posted by The GCW on April 11, 2018 at 10:44:52 PT
Me Too
Came over to post this news also...Another jump forward.For what ever reason, a win is a win. Snowballing in fact.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by Hope on April 11, 2018 at 10:09:56 PT
Dear Soup Herb...
I love you! It's getting better. It really is. I think with these two it's not just money that's really turned them. I think it's that epiphany that we have so wanted people to have.Not everyone hit the ground believing all the good stuff about cannabis we now know to be true.Be happy, Soup Herb. Be happier, at least. Please. We're winning this. We are. It's taken so long we've all gotten old and crotchety about it all... but we're winning. It's a solid win, too. One reason for the solidness of it is that it took so damned long to set (as in concrete). For all those who have suffered because of this prohibition and for all those who would have suffered with it. Think about them. The ones who now... today...aren't facing the way it was even ten years ago. Be happy, old friend. It's getting better. No matter what they say it's about... if it's saving lives, and it is, like we wanted... it's for the good.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by Hope on April 11, 2018 at 09:59:49 PT
Well, well, well, indeed!
I was just racing over here to see if you'd seen this. You have!Well, well, well, indeed. This is a good turn of events, in my opinion. A very good one! Bodes well for us.I like how Mr. Weld talks. "“Millennials who will inherit the kingdom before long, they are even more positive about cannabis than the populous at large,” Weld said. “You can look at the trend of millennial opinion and you can see the future.”"I am pleased with Boehner's choice. Very pleased. I'm sort of fascinated by what he said about Sessions. He nearly chuckled? "“I don’t know why they decided to do this. It could be that the attorney general is trying to force the Congress to act.” There is something important, sort of unspoken, in that statement. Interesting.They're coming to the light! Hallelujah! They are coming to the light! The light being the truth in this case. Halleleujah! The truth is winning. Like we always said it would. Halleleujah! Great things to come, people! Great things!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Soup herb on April 11, 2018 at 09:28:13 PT:
It's still about the money.
It's just that the prohibs are seeing for real the gigantic amounts of revenue that would come in from cannabis regulation. I do not believe anyone cared about the helpful properties of cannabis. It is a charade to keep corporate profits high in competitive areas concerning cannabis.
It's always about the money. All the years of people suffering and using was never a concern. 
Of the money, by the money for the money.
And now, they want the money. Go figure.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by FoM on April 11, 2018 at 07:45:07 PT
Well Well Well
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah! LOL!
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment