Some voters and would-be smokers are not too happy in Massachusetts lately. State election officials confirmed Tuesday that a ballot question to repeal the state’s adult-use marijuana laws will appear as Question 8 on the Nov. 3 ballot. The vote could unwind a nearly $2 billion legal cannabis industry a decade after Massachusetts voters first legalized recreational sales in 2016.
In a post shared to the Massachusetts Reddit, some voters and citizens were expressing some clear frustration that apathetic folks had let the marijuana law get to the point of potential repeal. The Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, funded almost entirely by the national anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, gathered more than 90,000 signatures over the past year to place the measure, officially called “An Act to Restore a Sensible Marijuana Policy,” before voters.
It would eliminate recreational sales and home cultivation but leave medical marijuana and existing possession limits largely intact, while adding new penalties for people under 21 caught with marijuana.
Massachusetts reacts to potential repeal
One frustrated commenter said “Yea this is the part that is unbelievable to me. Like how’s that legal? They almost got me, and the lady legit spun it like the petition was to PREVENT it from getting on the ballot.” Another citizen said, “This is where we get off the couch and go vote“.
More people piled on and echoed a similar statement when they said, “Secondly, I’m a bit miffed that folks are now only paying attention because it made it to the ballot. They have been trying for so long to do this and there were many posts about it, specifically about the underhanded tactics some of their supporters were taking to get signatures for the petition.”
Massachusetts collected nearly $300 million in marijuana tax revenue last year, with another $50 million going to cities and towns. This funding that would disappear if voters approve the repeal in November.
