Advocates in Massachusetts look to reverse recreational marijuana legalization

By HPN staff

Advocates in Massachusetts have submitted about 76,000 signatures to push a proposal that would ban recreational marijuana statewide. The move could set up a 2026 ballot fight, potentially reversing a decade of legalization.

The effort is led by the Coalition for Healthy Massachusetts, a political committee. It is backed in part by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), which is led by Kevin Sabat, who served as a White House drug policy adviser in the 2000s. 

If the secretary of the commonwealth certifies the signatures, lawmakers must consider the proposal under Massachusetts’ initiative process. If they don’t act, supporters would need about 12,000 additional signatures next year to place it on the ballot. Signature collection reflects interest in letting voters decide — not necessarily support for banning recreational sales.

If voters approve it, the measure would overturn the 2016 initiative that legalized recreational marijuana with 54% support. It would not affect the state’s medical marijuana program. Earlier this year, Massachusetts reported that total marijuana sales had surpassed $8 billion since legalization.

Why it matters

Massachusetts is emerging as a test case for whether states that legalized recreational marijuana a decade ago are willing to reconsider. Public health, safety and commercial concerns are driving new scrutiny.

Other states are watching closely. In Maine, anti-marijuana advocates are collecting signatures for a similar measure to reverse that state’s 2016 legalization vote. Maine has collected more than $500 million in tax revenue from marijuana sales, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, funding programs including education and infrastructure.

National support for legalization, while still high, is slipping. A Gallup survey last month found backing at 64% — a six-year low. Meanwhile, studies from states like Ohio show slight increases in marijuana-linked driving deaths after legalization, adding to the debate over whether the social costs are becoming more visible.

The big picture

The federal landscape saw new shifts this week with the announcement that President Trump is expected to issue an executive order reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III. The move fulfills a campaign promise to “unlock the medical uses of cannabis” and would place marijuana alongside common prescription painkillers, potentially reshaping state regulation of medical access.

The development comes after the Biden administration proposed reclassifying marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, which would have eased federal restrictions but stopped short of legalization. That plan was not finalized before Biden left office.

Recreational marijuana is legal in 24 states and Washington, D.C., while 16 others allow medical use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A 2026 ballot fight in Massachusetts would be one of the first major efforts to roll back legalization in a state where the market is already established — and could signal how willing voters are to revisit the issue a decade later.