Marijuana returns to the ballot box this November; will it stay or be repealed?

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – Massachusetts could make history this November — but not in the way you might expect. Voters will decide whether to become the first state in the country to repeal recreational marijuana.

It’s question 8 on the November ballot. A yes vote repeals recreational cannabis sales — while keeping medical marijuana legal. Whether you’ve ever set foot in a dispensary or not, the outcome could affect funding for your schools, your roads, and your healthcare. Here’s what both sides are saying.

Payton Shubrick is the CEO and founder of 6 Bricks — an adult-use dispensary in Springfield. She’s also vice chair of the Massachusetts Cannabis Coalition, which has formed a “Stop the Repeal” committee. She said the threat is coming from outside the state, “This November, Massachusetts voters will vote on a ballot question funded by wealthy out-of-state marijuana opponents that would repeal regulated recreational cannabis in Massachusetts and would pose an existential threat to the jobs and local revenue generated by the industry each year.”

The revenue at stake is significant. Since legalization in 2016, cannabis sales have generated nearly $2 billion in state and local revenue, money that currently flows to schools, housing, transportation, and healthcare. Shubrick said losing it would hurt everyone, “The things that the Commonwealth would go without touch on schools to healthcare and so much more. I mean, the reality is, whether you’re a consumer or not, it’s not an individual problem. It’s a Commonwealth problem.”

Shubrick also noted that youth cannabis use has actually gone down since recreational use was passed a decade ago. But Wendy Wakeman, spokesperson for the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, said the financial argument misses the bigger picture, “What’s the cost really? There’s a human cost associated with having cannabis as a recreational choice — a cost to public health, a cost to public safety, and those costs are as real as tax revenue.”

Wakeman’s group also points to impaired driving, noting there is currently no roadside test to determine if a motorist is driving high. As for dispensary owners, she says many could transition to the medical cannabis market, which would remain legal under the repeal, “we drive on the roads every day with motorists who are high and the police have absolutely no way to enforce that,” Wakeman said.

If the repeal passes, Shubrick said the timeline for closures is the great unknown — anywhere from 36 days to 90 days, or possibly the same day.

Voters cast their ballots on November 3rd. We’ll continue following this story as the campaign heats up.