Short film by Talking Joints Memo features more than
50 interviews and clips from the battle to keep
Massachusetts dispensaries open

For 20 years, Chris Faraone has been the leading journalist covering cannabis in
Massachusetts. From activism in the outlaw days, to medical marijuana, to the
current complexity of the Cannabis Control Commission, he’s been there every
inch of the slog.

As the former Boston Phoenix and DigBoston staff writer explains in his short
documentary, Just Say No!, about Ballot Question 8 to repeal adult-use
cannabis, shutter dispensaries, and take away your right to grow at home: “Of
all of the fabulist abominations that have cropped up since the early aughts,
the effort to close pot shops in the commonwealth is the most reckless. And
the most threatening too, with the greatest hits of all past anti-marijuana
movements rolled up into one big ticking ballot time bomb.”

Starting in late 2025, Chris reported on every development. His articles and
videos garnered hundreds of thousands of views, and helped set the tone for
the informal opposition to Question 8 in Massachusetts. Just Say No! covers
the entire ordeal leading up to the weeks right before the November election,
and reveals aspects of the fight you didn’t see on the nightly news.