Former Speaker of the House John Boehner appeared on the Today show to discuss his recently changed stance on marijuana.
“I found myself like a lot of Americans over the last 10 years or so beginning to look at this issue a little differently,” Boehner said in an interview with Savannah Guthrie Friday morning. “When I began to sit down Kevin Murphy, the founder of Acreage Holdings. I began to learn more. And I had conversations with my friends, and I found myself in a position where I thought I could lend my voice to this discussion about the medical use of marijuana.”
Watch @savannahguthrie's full interview with @SpeakerBoehnerpic.twitter.com/7IAHAX9u6V
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 13, 2018
Boehner recently joined the advisory board of Acreage Holdings, which cultivates, processes and dispenses cannabis in 11 states.
While he said that he is not advocating all 50 states legalize marijuana for recreational use, Boehner did say he thought it should be up to states to determine their own laws. Boehner noted some issues with federal law conflicting with state laws surrounding legalization, including the inability to study medicinal benefits and banking difficulties for marijuana companies.