John Boehner—former GOP mouthpiece—wants to legalize weed

Hey. Remember former Speaker of the House John Boehner? The guy who famously said that he was “unalterably opposed” to legalizing marijuana? Well, now he’s a huge pothead. So much so that he’s just joined the board of advisors at Acreage Holdings, the biggest marijuana corporation in America. 

Given that we live in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it news cycle, this could easily be dismissed as a “baby boomer suddenly remembers he likes weed”. After all, what is retirement but a state-sanctified stoner’s life, anyway? Think about it: TV, no real plans other than going to the diner with a small group of friends, and living off a budget. Sounds pretty great, to be honest. 

Here’s where Boehner’s pot story takes a somewhat sad turn, though:  Boehner was perhaps most remembered for openly weeping throughout much of his official duties. Seriously: this guy cried a ton, to the point where “John Boehner crying” comes up as the third thing in Google when you type his name (go ahead and try it!). Towards the end of his tenure, it was not-so-subtly leaked that Boehner wept because he was allegedly a huge alcoholic.

First, I’m not judging: I’ve definitely had my own struggles with alcohol (hey, what is this, a Medium post?) — I’m actually really happy for the guy: marijuana has been proven over and over again to be far healthier than alcohol. And if you’re going to trade one buzz for another, trading your love of the tipple for the love of the bud is a good way to go. 

 Will other Republicans follow suit? Let’s hope so. Between arguing about who can use which bathroom to trying to regulate women’s reproductive systems, Republicans really need to loosen up, quite frankly. And smoking pot is a pretty good way to do that. Between the massive amounts of money to be made in marijuana and the far-less-harmful-than-booze buzz, it’s a win-win for old white dudes who need to chill out. Here’s hoping that more follow in Boehner’s lead.