Massachusetts voters have resoundingly rejected Question 8, the ballot measure seeking to repeal the state’s adult-use cannabis reforms, which voters originally approved in 2016.
The proposal called for banning the possession, consumption, and sale of cannabis for recreational purposes, and setting new policies to decriminalize low-level possession.
“There’s no ‘buyer’s remorse’ among voters when it comes to legalizing and regulating marijuana,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a statement. “In fact, more Massachusetts voters support legalization today than did a decade ago, and these election results prove it.”
“Proponents of this failed effort spent millions of dollars to, in their own words, reset the conversation around cannabis policy. They found out the hard way that the public hasn’t changed their minds.” — Armentano, in a statement
If passed, the proposal would have shuttered the state’s multi-billion-dollar cannabis industry, which would have cost the state thousands of jobs, millions in tax revenue, and the safety of its citizens, who would have gone back to the unregulated marketplace.
Additionally, Massachusetts would have become the first state to reverse its cannabis reforms with a ballot measure.
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