In sad news for everyone who still thought smoking weed was cool, ex-Speaker of the House John Boehner has joined the board of Acreage Holdings, a cannabis firm that produces and sells the drug in 11 states.
On Twitter, Boehner said his “thinking on cannabis has evolved.” Years ago, Boehner had said he was “unalterably opposed” to legalizing the drug.
It’s also a sign that weed is becoming big business, and acting like any other corporate interest—paying ex-congressmen to lobby on its behalf, for example—as it grows more legitimate and legalization spreads across the country. Sales of legal weed totaled $6.1 billion in 2017, according to Marijuana Business Daily, making the prospect of Big Weed handing out checks to politicians not beyond the realm of imagination.
Of course, Boehner is no stranger to exactly this kind of behavior, as the Washington Post reported in 1997:
In mid-June 1995, the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. political action committee (PAC) wrote $500 campaign contributions to 59 House Republican and Democratic members, Federal Election Commission records show. Some of the checks were written to members that House Republican Conference Chairman John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) suggested Brown & Williamson support, according to Barry Jackson, his chief of staff. Boehner then was given the checks to deliver “so he could get credit,” Jackson said.
Last year it was publicly disclosed that Boehner in the last week of June 1995 walked around the House floor delivering six or more of the Brown & Williamson PAC checks.
What a turd! Deepest condolences to all weed advocates and enjoyers of weed culture for your shitty new ally.