Failed repeal campaign united cannabis businesses. Here's what's next
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Tito Jackson, owner of Apex Noire, speaks at the Stop the Repeal news conference at his dispensary. Photo: Steph Solis/Axios
A proposal to kill Massachusetts' legal cannabis industry flamed out Tuesday, with a resounding no vote.
- Now comes the hard part for the industry: Keeping the momentum going to make the legal market more accessible to those harmed by the War on Drugs.
Why it matters: A controversial ballot measure campaign turned Massachusetts into a testing ground for those seeking to repeal state laws legalizing cannabis sales.
Catch up quick: Supporters of the ballot measure, namely the interest group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Action Inc., rang the alarm over reports of marijuana psychosis and impaired driving.
- Cannabis business owners, workers and consumers tallied the costs of a yes vote: an industry employing 27,000-plus people and bringing in $336 million in state and local tax revenue in fiscal 2026 alone.
The latest: More than 1.6 million voters (nearly 76%) decided against Question 8 as of 7am Wednesday, when 80% of the votes were counted.
- The Associated Press declared Question 8 dead just before midnight, hours after cannabis industry leaders claimed victory.
State of blaze: While the ballot measure posed an existential threat to the industry, it also lit a fire under a workforce that has long felt defeated over rising costs, depleting wholesale flower prices, and a slow and at times dysfunctional regulatory agency.
- The opposition campaign could be the beginning of an active coalition of business owners pushing to streamline and reform an industry that's faced red tape and hurdles as long as it's been legal.
- Ryan Dominguez, chair of the Stop the Repeal campaign, said the coalition of 700 businesses will continue its work after Tuesday to advocate for the industry on Beacon Hill and beyond.
What they're saying: "The coalition is going to stay together. This group of folks now knows how to organize in every single community in the state of Massachusetts," Tito Jackson, former Boston city councilor, said Tuesday night alongside Dominguez in his dispensary and lounge Apex Noire.
Flashback: This time last year, dispensary owners were divided over a proposal to raise the cap on the number of retail licenses a company can hold from three to six.
- A coalition of independently owned retailers, Equitable Opportunities Now, staunchly opposed the increase, saying it would benefit deep-pocketed multi-state operators in a saturated market.
- But some, including Jackson, said it would expand their list of buyers should they ever decide to sell. (The reform law ultimately included the cap increase.)
Zoom in: Jackson and Dominguez said they anticipate the industry will mobilize around getting the social consumption market set up and enforcing the recent cannabis reform law.
What's next: The next legislative session will test whether the coalition can sustain its momentum.