In an interview with a Cincinnati TV station, former Speaker of the House John Boehner said that the federal government should “get out of the way” of cannabis legalization. Boehner’s longtime political stance was against cannabis. However, since leaving public office in 2015 and doing more research, he’s changed his opinion on cannabis. These days, Boehner sits on the advisory board of cannabis holding company Acreage Holdings.
“If the states decide they want to do this, this is up to them, but I am not going to be an advocate on what the states should and should not do. That’s clearly up to them.” — John Boehner, via WCPO Cincinnati
Boehner supports more cannabis research. He has been lobbying Congress to remove cannabis from the Schedule I list of drugs, the category of Controlled Substance that is considered to have no acceptable medical use and contains drugs like heroin, ecstasy, and LSD. Boehner also expressed support for increasing medical cannabis access for veterans, children with epilepsy and other seizures, and people suffering from opioid addiction and other medical conditions.
“Even with chronic pain, or veterans with PTSD, they ought to be able to have access to medical marijuana because we believe it actually helps them.” — John Boehner, via WCPO Cincinnati