The Marijuana Industry's Newest Spokesman? Former House Speaker John Boehner

The Marijuana Industry's Newest Spokesman? Former House Speaker John Boehner
By BLOOMBERG Updated: April 11, 2018 10:56 AM ET

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 marijuana 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,” Boehner 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 marijuana, 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 marijuana legalization.

http://fortune.com/2018/04/11/pot-marijuana-john-boehner-speaker-republican/