A ballot measure that would repeal marijuana legalization for non-medical use will come before voters in November, the state’s highest court ruled Friday.
The Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling addressed technical questions about whether proponents met the constitutional requirements to place the measure on the ballot this fall.
The court concluded that proponents had met that standard, endorsing Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s decision last year to clear the proposal for the November election.
“We conclude that the Attorney General did not err in certifying the petition on either of the claimed grounds, and that her summary of the petition is fair,” the court wrote.
The repeal proposal is backed by local and national groups that have raised safety questions about legal marijuana, while the cannabis industry has sought to knock it off the ballot, the Globe has reported.
“The Court correctly recognized that voters deserve the opportunity to evaluate whether the promises made by the marijuana industry have matched the realities experienced in our communities,” said Wendy Wakeman, spokesperson for the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, which has spearheaded the statewide repeal campaign with funding from prominent Virginia anti-cannabis group, Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
Ryan Dominguez, chair of the Stop the Repeal campaign and director of a marijuana trade group, said the industry is “ready to fight back,” calling the ballot question an “existential threat to our state’s economy and the financial well-being of thousands of Massachusetts families.”
Legalized by voters in 2016, the cannabis industry is taxed by both state and local governments. Last year, the taxes raised $289 million for the state and $50 million for municipalities.
Combined, taxes have nearly surpassed $2 billion since pot shops opened eight years ago, according to a September report from the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.
“Our coalition is standing together to make sure this regressive question funded by out-of-state special interest groups is defeated in the fall,” Dominguez added.
Information from previous Globe coverage was used in this report.
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe.