Massachusetts Question 8 Falls Short, Sabet Says “This Is Only the Beginning”
The first statewide vote on ending commercial marijuana fell short, and repeal backers say Maine is next.
MMassachusetts made history last night with the first statewide vote in American history on ending commercial marijuana. Question 8 came up short, but hundreds of thousands of voters in one of the bluest states in the country backed it, and SAM Action’s Kevin Sabet says the fight is just getting started.
Question 8 asked voters to end commercial recreational marijuana sales while keeping personal possession and medical marijuana legal. The industry fought back with its own campaign. Opponents raised $2.3 million, according to WBUR.
Sabet: “The Shot Heard Around the World”
“The fact Massachusetts residents had this opportunity to vote on repealing marijuana sales is historic. It was the shot heard around the world,” said Dr. Kevin Sabet, President and CEO of SAM Action.
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Sabet said hundreds of thousands of voters “took on the billion-dollar, modern-day Big Tobacco industry” in a vote that “was unthinkable just a few years ago.”
“Though we came up short tonight, this is a pyrrhic victory for the industry and we are not backing down,” he said. “Maine and other states will be next.”
He said the industry will once again have to defend its “supercharged potency products, higher rates of psychosis, higher rates of ER visits, and higher rates of addiction.”
That debate reached well beyond the state line. A Fox News segment brought Question 8 to a national audience. The Boston Globe editorial board conceded several of the repeal campaign’s core arguments even though it opposed the measure.
“We are proud that during the course of this campaign millions of people were educated about the harms of the industry and its drugs,” Sabet said. “And we are proud that hundreds of thousands of people today said they have had enough. That number will only grow.”
In Maine, a proposed initiative would repeal commercial recreational sales starting in 2028 while keeping personal possession legal. Backers need more than 67,000 signatures by June 2027 to get on the ballot.
Massachusetts Question 8 and Legalization’s Losing Streak
Movements that change laws rarely win on the first try. The legalization movement lost again and again at the ballot box before it ever won, including in states that are now among the country’s largest commercial markets.
- Nevada rejected measures in 2002 (39 percent) and 2006 (44 percent) before legalizing in 2016.
- California voted down legalization in 1972 (33 percent) and 2010 (47 percent) before passing it in 2016.
- Colorado rejected a 2006 measure (41 percent) before passing legalization in 2012.
- Oregon voted down legalization in 1986 (26 percent) and 2012 (47 percent) before passing it in 2014.
- Alaska rejected measures in 2000 (41 percent) and 2004 (44 percent) before legalizing in 2014.
- Arizona voted down legalization in 2002 (43 percent) and 2016 (49 percent) before passing it in 2020.
- Ohio rejected legalization by nearly two to one in 2015 before passing it in 2023.
Sabet sees the same arc ahead. “The pro-legalization movement lost at the ballot box again and again before it ever won, and this is only the beginning,” he said. “The industry should take note: Massachusetts voters have opened a conversation it cannot close.”
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