Former speaker of the U.S. house of representatives John Boehner said Wednesday he had a change of heart on marijuana and will support its nationwide legalization as a way to help veterans and the deadly opioid crisis in the country.
Republican Ohio, a heavy smoker, joined the Advisory Board of the space enterprise , it is a Central company of cannabis. The company also announced that the former Governor of Massachusetts William weld has joined its Advisory Board.
Weld, a Republican, as Governor, ran in the presidential election of 2016, the libertarian party ticket, which headed the legal pot advocate Gary Johnson.
Boehner said in a statement, his position “evolved” from opposing in support of the legalization of marijuana.
“I decided to participate because it fights the veterans of our country and the opioid epidemic by learning how descheduling the drug can help with both crises,” said Boehner, now 68.
He said he wants to see federally funded research and permission of the Department of veterans Affairs to offer marijuana as a possible treatment option for conditions like chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Boehner also said that the movement will collapse of the Federal state conflict on marijuana policies. Although marijuana is illegal at the Federal level, most States have legalized marijuana in one form or another. The administration of President Donald trump in January raised the Barack Obama-era policies that do not Federal government to deal with the trade of pot in States where the drug is legal.
In new York land that has cannabis operations in 11 States, said Boehner and welding will serve on its Board of Directors, when it is formed. Boehner earlier stint on the Board of a tobacco company.
Paul Ryan, the successor to Boehner, when he resigned as speaker in 2015, spoke about the work of getting the smell of cigarette smoke from the speaker’s office after leaving Boehner.
—
Follow Dan Sewell in https://www.twitter.com/dansewell
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
