Massachusetts Committee Takes No Action on Initiative to Repeal Legal Marijuana Sales, Supporters Now Face Final Signature Push
- The Massachusetts Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions took no action on House Bill 5002, a proposal to repeal the state’s adult-use marijuana market, allowing supporters to pursue a second round of signature gathering for the November ballot.
- The initiative would end the legal framework for licensed recreational marijuana sales, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and taxation, while keeping medical marijuana legal and allowing limited possession of marijuana for adults 21 and older.
- Supporters must submit 12,429 additional certified signatures by July 1, 2026, to advance the proposal to the ballot, with a potential implementation date of January 1, 2028, if approved by voters.
- Adult-use marijuana was legalized in Massachusetts in 2016, with the first recreational stores opening in 2018, generating billions in sales and significant tax revenue since then.
A Massachusetts legislative committee has taken no action on an initiative backed by prohibitionists that would repeal the state’s adult-use marijuana market, allowing supporters of the measure to move toward a second round of signature gathering for the November ballot.
The Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions recommended “no action” on House Bill 5002, titled An Act to Restore a Sensible Marijuana Policy.
The committee’s decision does not place the proposal directly on the ballot, but it keeps the process alive without passing the proposal into law. Because lawmakers did not approve the initiative by the required deadline, supporters may now collect a second batch of signatures. For 2026 initiative petitions, campaigns must submit 12,429 additional certified signatures to the secretary of the commonwealth by July 1, with signatures due to local election officials by June 17.
If supporters meet that requirement and survive any remaining legal challenges, the proposal would appear before voters in November.
The initiative would repeal Massachusetts’ adult-use marijuana law, ending the legal framework for licensed recreational marijuana stores, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution and taxation. Medical marijuana would remain legal, and the proposal would continue to allow adults 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana, including up to 5 grams of marijuana concentrate.
Possession of more than 1 ounce but no more than 2 ounces would be a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine and forfeiture of the marijuana.
The measure would also repeal Chapter 64N, the state law governing marijuana excise taxes, and Chapter 94G, which regulates adult-use marijuana businesses. Existing adult-use businesses would be allowed to apply on an expedited basis to become medical marijuana operators and to sell remaining adult-use inventory to licensed medical marijuana treatment centers.
The proposed law would take effect Jan. 1, 2028.
Massachusetts voters legalized adult-use marijuana in 2016, with the state’s first recreational stores opening in 2018. Since then, the market has generated billions of dollars in legal sales and significant tax revenue for the state and local governments.