John Boehner visits SXSW to discuss legalizing marijuana

AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - This afternoon, former Speaker of the House John Boehner discussed the paths to national legalization of marijuana at a SXSW conference. "Over the five six seven years I found myself looking at this issue differently. Part of it was hearing people talk about it. Friends that I know that use the product. Like a lot of Americans are,” he says.

He sat down with CEO Kevin Murphy of Acreage Holdings, the largest U.S. operator in cannabis, to also talk about the challenges and opportunities America’s fastest growing industry face today. "Kevin introduced me to some people who were Navy Seals and had more concussions than you could imagine,” he began.

Many wanted to know why his conservative views on cannabis has shifted, and why now?

"And it was a shock to a lot of people,” he adds. He says he decided to lend his voice to this debate because he saw many people close to him change for the better.

On the same floor, Leafly had a lounge set up to help educate cannabis enthusiasts between conference sessions. "What is THC what is CBD what is cannabis so we are really here to help answer those questions and help understand cannabis a little more."

Leafly is the inaugural sponsor for the first cannabis business track at South by Southwest.
It's also the largest information resource on cannabis. "I think cannabis has been a hot topic recently with Canada legalizing last year so I think everyone is trying to get into the space everyone's curious about it,” Camille Lim says.

Lim is the program manager at Leafly, based out of Seattle, Washington.

Will Hyde is the senior subject matter with Leafly. He says he’s glad to see more people on board with medical cannabis. "I see cannabis as a bi-partisan issue and I see people advocating it from both sides of the aisle. I do think there's a little caution with who's investing and why they're investing in cannabis but I do think investing is a good thing,” Hyde says.

---

Gaming Expo kicks off at SXSW

5 years after deadly SXSW crash, things have changed

Pedicab drivers keep on pedaling after fire burns storage warehouse in East Austin

Presidential hopeful introduces plan to break apart tech companies at SXSW