Massachusetts Ballot Measure To Roll Back Marijuana Legalization Is Opposed By Most State Residents, Poll Shows

Massachusetts voters will have a chance to vote on a ballot initiative in November that would roll back the state’s adult-use marijuana law—and a new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of residents do not want to see that happen.

The Bay State Poll from the University of Hampshire’s States of Opinion Project asked Massachusetts adults about six separate ballot proposals that could go before voters at the upcoming election, including one that would repeal state law permitting recreational cannabis sales and the cultivation of marijuana for personal use.

Nearly 2 in 3 Bay Staters (63 percent) said they’re opposed to the marijuana measure, including 48 percent who said they’re “strongly” opposed. Just 20 percent of respondents said they’re in favor of the proposed initiative, with 11 percent “strongly” supportive of the repeal.

Opposition was strongest among Democrats, at 73 percent, followed by independents (69 percent) and a plurality of Republicans (42 percent)

Support for the cannabis repeal initiative was the lowest of any of the six ballot questions that responders were asked about, which also included proposals to allow same-day voter registration, lowering the state income tax, establishing rent control laws and more.

The survey—which involved interviews with 670 Massachusetts residents from February 12-16, with a +/-3.8 percentage point margin of error—comes months after cannabis activists filed a complaint with the State Ballot Law Commission under the Secretary of State’s office, alleging that petitioners with the anti-cannabis campaign used misleading tactics to convince voters to support its ballot placement.

The commission rejected the complaint in January, however, and said advocates who challenged the ballot measure raised “unsupported allegations” about the propriety of the signature gathering process that they said warranted official scrutiny.

That decision represented a setback for advocates and industry stakeholders who have flagged numerous accounts of alleged misconduct by petitioners working on behalf of the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts.

It also came as separate polling found that nearly half of those who signed the marijuana sales repeal petition felt misled, with many claiming that the measure was pitched to them as a proposal to address unrelated issues such as public education and expanded housing.

The anti-marijuana coalition has denied any wrongdoing in the signature collection process and waved off the survey results.

The initiative would still let adults 21 and older possess and gift up to an ounce of cannabis, but it would repeal provisions of the voter-approved legalization law allowing for commercial sales and home cultivation by adults. The medical cannabis program would remain intact under the measure.

An association of state marijuana businesses had separately urged voters to report to local officials if they observe any instances of “fraudulent message” or other deceitful petitioning tactics.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s (D) office—which cleared the campaign for signature gathering in September—has stressed to voters the importance of reading the summary, which is required to go at the top of the signature form, before signing any petitions.

The Massachusetts legislature received the initiative for consideration earlier this month when the 2026 session kicked off. Now that the state election commission has issued its ruling on the complaint, lawmakers have until May 5 to act on the proposal. If they choose not to enact it legislatively, the campaign would need to go through another round of petitioning and get at least 12,429 certified signatures by July 1 to make the November ballot.

Meanwhile, the head of Massachusetts’s marijuana regulatory agency recently suggested that the measure to effectively recriminalize recreational cannabis sales could imperil tax revenue that’s being used to support substance misuse treatment efforts and other public programs.

To that point, Massachusetts recently reached another marijuana milestone, with officials announcing last month that the state has surpassed $9 billion in adult-use cannabis purchases since the market launched in 2018.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts lawmakers recently assembled a bicameral conference committee to reach a deal on a bill that would double the legal marijuana possession limit for adults and revise the regulatory framework for the state’s adult-use cannabis market.

In December, state regulators also finalized rules for marijuana social consumption loungues.

— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. —

CCC recently launched an online platform aimed at helping people find jobs, workplace training and networking opportunities in the state’s legal cannabis industry.

State lawmakers have also been considering setting tighter restrictions on intoxicating hemp-derived products and a plan to allow individual entities to control a larger number of cannabis establishments.

Also in Massachusetts, legislators who were working on a state budget butted heads with CCC officials, who’ve said they can’t make critical technology improvements without more money from the legislature.

Massachusetts lawmakers additionally approved a bill to establish a pilot program for the regulated therapeutic use of psychedelics. And two committees have separately held hearings to discuss additional psilocybin-related measures.