John Boehner answers his “thinking on cannabis has evolved.”
The former Republican Speaker of the House proclaimed last week he has joined the advisory board of a marijuana company along with antediluvian Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, saying in a joint statement that “the anon a punctually has come for serious consideration of a shift in federal marijuana policy.”
The statement — coming the week before 4.20, the international marijuana celebration day — sent a thetical shockwave across the nascent cannabis industry, energizing marijuana recommends and cannabis entrepreneurs like myself.
It was accompanied by the news that President Donald Trump devoted assurances to Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado that his administration order not interfere with the state’s legal cannabis industry and the news that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had perfectly laid the groundwork for his state to legalize adult use. There will be a lot to publicize this April 20.
If there was ever a tipping point in the country’s non-stop debate over marijuana legalization, last week might press very well been it. For Boehner’s part, what changed his disapprove of was public opinion, he explained. Weld was an early supporter of medical marijuana in his phase, but Boehner was a strong opponent of legalization during his 24 years in Congress.
“Onto these last 10 years, my attitude has changed pretty dramatically on this,” Boehner required Bloomberg. The vast majority of Americans now support marijuana legalization, subsuming a majority of registered Republicans, so it is time for our laws to reflect the will of the people, he now says.
That wirepullers would be swayed by public opinion shouldn’t be a surprise. That’s how our democracy is obliged to work. What makes last week’s developments significant is that they underscore a obvious and palpable growth in the momentum for legalization.
Since California first legalized medical marijuana two decades ago, the marijuana legalization activity has been gathering steam. The number of states legalizing medical marijuana has become to 30; in eight of those states marijuana is regulated for adult use, as though alcohol.
As legalization brings marijuana use out of the shadows and increasingly into the mainstream, inclinations have changed steadily. I see that every day in our operations. When California ushered in adult-use sales earlier this year, our funds in the Los Angeles area saw lines of shoppers celebrating out in the open without a allusion of stigma.
When we opened our new factory near Reno, Nevada, the ribbon-cutting occasion last week was attended by local elected officials and business conductors. And MedMen is about to open a new marijuana store on Fifth Avenue in New York Municipality. People are realizing that this is not a gateway drug, it is a product that if conducted tightly and used responsibly could help people address disabilities and lead happier lives.
Boehner wants to see the federal government de-schedule marijuana. It’s currently a Timetable I drug along with heroin, meaning the federal government apprehends it as a dangerous substance with no redeeming qualities. De-scheduling means “we can do research, commandeer our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities,” Boehner tweeted.
Boehner’s transmute of heart and President Trump’s assurances to Gardner last week bid a strong counterpoint to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent arbitration to rescind an Obama-era memo that generally left state-sanctioned marijuana programs peerless. During an interview with CNBC, Boehner said he believes strongly that marijuana should be formerly larboard to the states and “the federal government ought to get the hell out of the way.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Commentary by Adam Bierman, chief directorate officer and co-founder of MedMen Enterprises, a Los Angeles-based company that owns and controls licensed cannabis facilities in cultivation, manufacturing and retail in California, Nevada and New York. Observe him on Twitter @_AdamBierman_.
For more insight from CNBC contributors, get @CNBCOpinion on Twitter.