BOSTON, Mass. (WKRC) – A state could become the first to reverse its legalization of marijuana.
According to The Independent, Massachusetts could become the first state to repeal legislation that legalized the sale of marijuana.
Per the report, citing information from The Boston Globe, anti-marijuana activists said they’ve collected enough signatures to force a referendum that would once again put the issue on the ballot for November’s midterm election.
Massachusetts first legalized the recreational use of cannabis when Bay Staters voted in favor of legalization in 2016. The Independent reported that Wendy Wakeman, a Republican strategist who also acts as a spokesperson for the group behind the effort to end marijuana sales, Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, said she is “cautiously optimistic” that the referendum will move forward.
- Response from the marijuana industry
The marijuana industry has responded to the threat of the referendum in part by forming the group “Stop the Repeal,” the publication reported. The group hopes to make the case for legalization by pointing, in part, to the tax revenue generated by marijuana sales in Massachusetts, per the report.
“I hope everybody understands how real of a threat it is,” Ryan Dominguez, the chairman of Stop the Repeal, said when speaking to The Independent.
“The fact that we’ve gotten here today is absolutely insane,” the president of Calyx Containers, a Massachusetts-based cannabis packaging company said, per the report. “If we are significantly outgunned and we don’t get our messages out, then there is a risk that they could win.”
- Anti-marijuana groups speak out
According to The Independent, some of the groups that are opposed to the legalization of cannabis said they’re not pushing for tougher policing and are more concerned with the commercialization of the substance over the last decade.
The opponents of legalized marijuana said they’ve identified the following concerns, per the report:
- Social problems linked to increasingly potent cannabis products
- Increased marijuana use among young people
- Deteriorating road safety due to intoxicated drivers
“I don’t think (people) voted for a pot shop on every corner… smelling weed everywhere they go and having to protect their kids,” Kevin Sabet, the president of the Virginia-based anti-cannabis group “Smart Approaches to Marijuana,” said, according to The Independent.
The publication’s report states that Smart Approaches to Marijuana has donated $1.5 million to the campaign in Massachusetts, with Sabet reportedly stating, “We’re finally having some buyer’s remorse.”
The report further states that Smart Approaches to Marijuana has faced criticism for attempting to influence policy surrounding marijuana in states beyond Virginia after the organization donated to a separate anti-cannabis movement in Maine.