We cannot stress enough that it is pretty damn unusual for public officials to get on one side or another of a ballot question. Voters can get awfully emotional around initiatives, and simply put, there aren’t many reasons to risk turning off potential supporters by weighing in on a side which some find repulsive. Apparently though, hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue is plenty of reason for Mass pols to oppose Question 8 on Nov. 3.
Months ago, Jason Reposa of the company Good Feels, who has been particularly vocal against the repeal on social media and elsewhere, published a nifty tracker showing where Mass legislators fell on Question 8. At the time, he had to push many of them for an answer, but now it seems that lawmakers are jumping up and down to repel reefer madness. We never thought we’d see the day.
Below is the latest roundup of Mass politicians against the prohibitionist initiative—some of whom were less than friendly to or MIA around the marijuana cause in its pre-public revenue days, we’ll note—via the official opposition front …
Today, the No on 8: Stop the Repeal Campaign announced the endorsement of more than 50 State legislators, including Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ronald Mariano, who join regional leaders, public health officials, law enforcement, small business owners and advocates fighting to protect the Commonwealth’s legal cannabis law.
Repealing highly-regulated recreational marijuana would have serious economic and public safety impacts across our state. Today’s endorsement underscores the importance of preserving the jobs, economic opportunities and public policy gains created since Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved legal marijuana in 2016.
In the decade since voters made a clear choice to replace restrictive policies with a safe, regulated cannabis market, Massachusetts has built a system that prioritizes public health, consumer safety, responsible regulation and equitable opportunities.
“Repealing recreational cannabis laws will not only take us backwards to restrictive policies that promote dangerous, unregulated illicit markets, it would negatively impact our communities that are already struggling with the impacts from serious budget shortfalls, which many of our legislative leaders have seen first hand,” said Stop the Repeal Campaign Chair Ryan Dominguez. “Losing $2 billion in state and local revenue along with the funding from the Marijuana Regulation Fund will cause further pains on already strained budgets, and impact public health programs and investments in law enforcement and public safety.”
Legalization of recreational marijuana built an economic engine that, in the last decade, has created over 400 new storefronts, more than 27,000 jobs and generated over $2 billion in tax revenue benefiting our municipalities and the Marijuana Regulation Fund, supporting public health programs, law enforcement and schools, as well as regulatory oversight.
Question 8, if passed, would bring us back to a system under which the arrest rate for marijuana sales for Black people was more than seven times higher than the arrest rate for white people. Even after legalization, Hispanic and Latino individuals were three times as likely as non-Hispanic and Latino respondents to report a prior cannabis-related arrest. Since 2019, the Social Equity Program has certified more than 1,100 participants. Licensees must maintain public Positive Impact Plans and Diversity Plans to advance equity in their operations and harmed communities.
The 62 State Senators and Representatives who announced their endorsement:
Speaker Ronald Mariano
Senate President Karen Spilka
State Representative Lindsay Sabadosa
State Representative Patricia Duffy
State Representative Dawne Shand
State Representative James Arena-DeRosa
State Representative Michelle Badger
State Representative Mike Connolly
State Representative Lisa Field
State Representative Dennis Gallagher
State Representative Carmine Gentile
State Representative Natalie Higgins
State Representative Russell Holmes
State Representative Tara Hong
State Representative Kristin Kassner
State Representative Kathleen LaNatra
State Representative David LeBoeuf
State Representative Jack Lewis
State Representative David Linsky
State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian
State Representative Jay Livingstone
State Representative Christopher Markey
State Representative Joseph McKenna
State Representative John Moran
State Representative Brian Murray
State Representative Tram Nguyen
State Representative James O’Day
State Representative Steven Ouellette
State Representative Steven Owens
State Representative Alice Peisch
State Representative Angelo Puppolo Jr.
State Representative David Robertson
State Representative Jeffrey Roy
State Representative Alan Silvia
State Representative Andrew Tarr
State Representative Erika Uyterhoeven
State Representative Marcus Vaughn
State Representative William “Bill” MacGregor
State Representative James Arciero
State Representative Samantha Montaño
State Representative Bud Williams
State Representative John Mahoney
State Representative Andy Vargas
State Representative Christine Barber
State Representative Hannah Bowen
State Senator William Brownsberger
State Senator Paul Feeney
State Senator Adam Gomez
State Senator Liz Miranda
State Senator Julian Cyr
State Senator Jason Lewis
State Senator Jacob Oliveira
State Senator Rebecca Rausch
State Senator Patricia Jehlen
State Senator Michael Moore
State Senator Jo Comerford
State Senator Dylan Fernandes
State Senator Barry Finegold
State Senator Jamie Eldridge
State Senator Robyn Kennedy
State Senator Vanna Howard
State Senator Mike Rush
State Senator Pavel Payano
