Massachusetts Campaign to Repeal Cannabis Legalization Says It’s Confident It Has the Signatures to Make the 2026 Ballot

OG article by Anthony Martinelli

November 24, 2025

The Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts has collected signatures to repeal the state's recreational cannabis program, approved by voters in 2016, and is confident in having at least 74,574 valid signatures from registered voters by the November 19, 2025, deadline for verification by December, aiming for the November 2026 ballot after clearance by Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell in September 2025. Spokesperson Wendy Wakeman asserts the committee submitted enough signatures. The initiative, "An Act to Restore a Sensible Marijuana Policy," would end home cultivation, close licensed adult-use stores, and restrict access to regulated marijuana for adults 21 and older except medical program qualifiers. This faces criticism from the Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association (MCBA), whose President David O’Brien labeled alleged misleading tactics by circulators as "voter fraud," though Wakeman denies wrongdoing, claiming volunteers were misidentified and paid gatherers are properly trained. Repeal would dismantle an industry generating over $10 billion in sales since late 2018, nearly $1.5 billion in taxes, and tens of thousands of jobs. Public support opposes this, with 2024 polling showing 79% approval of legalization benefiting the state, 65% endorsing the 2016 decision versus 22% against, and ratings of the regulatory system as 20% "Excellent," 39% "Good," 20% "Fair," and only 9% "Poor." Small amounts possession would stay decriminalized. The battle highlights deep divides over cannabis's economic and social impacts in the state.