75.8% no: Massachusetts voters reject Question 8, keeping recreational marijuana sales legal

Massachusetts voters on Tuesday rejected Question 8, a ballot measure that would have repealed the state's laws allowing regulated retail sales of recreational marijuana. With about 80% of the expected vote counted, "No" led with 1,634,007 votes, or 75.8%, to 520,628 votes, or 24.2%, for "Yes," according to results published by CBS Boston on Wednesday morning. Axios Boston reported that The Associated Press declared the measure defeated just before midnight.

The result keeps the state's adult-use cannabis market in place. Had the measure passed, Massachusetts would have become the first state to reverse course on legalized recreational marijuana, WBUR reported.

What Question 8 would have done

According to the official ballot description summarized by WBUR in its Oct. 9 voter explainer, a "yes" vote would have prohibited the legalization, regulation and taxation of the retail sale of adult recreational-use marijuana and changed the penalties for possession. A "no" vote made no change to the law.

WBUR reported that under the measure, possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, and five grams of concentrated products, would have remained legal for people over 21. Current law allows adults to carry up to two ounces. Medical marijuana would have stayed legal, and recreational dispensaries would have been able to apply on an expedited basis for medical licenses. The repeal would have taken effect in 2028, according to WBUR.

How Massachusetts got here

WBUR described the vote as the latest step in a long run of Massachusetts ballot decisions on marijuana: voters decriminalized the drug in 2008, legalized medical marijuana in 2012, and in 2016 approved recreational sales for adults 21 and older. The first adult-use dispensaries opened in 2018. MJBizDaily and the Marijuana Policy Project both reported that the 2016 legalization measure passed with 53.6% of the vote, which makes Tuesday's roughly 76% "No" vote a much wider margin of support for keeping the legal market.

The size of the market at stake

Outlets put different figures on the industry, and each is attributed here to its source. MJBizDaily described Massachusetts' adult-use cannabis market as a $1.65 billion annual industry and reported that Question 8 threatened $336 million in annual tax revenue and 400 businesses employing nearly 20,000 people. Axios Boston reported that the industry employs more than 27,000 people and brought in $336 million in state and local tax revenue in fiscal 2026 alone. The Marijuana Policy Project, which backed the 2016 legalization campaign, said in a statement that the market generates over $1.6 billion in annual gross sales and supports approximately 23,000 jobs.

In its pre-election explainer, WBUR reported that the state is home to some 400 dispensaries and another 200 businesses that grow, transport and support cannabis sales. GBH News reported that industry supporters argued the market has generated roughly $2 billion in tax revenue since legalization.

The campaigns and the money

The repeal effort was backed by the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, which WBUR reported was funded mostly by Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action Inc., a Virginia-based group. MJBizDaily reported that, through Oct. 15, the most recent data available, $3.6 million had been spent in support of the measure and $2.6 million against it, making it the most expensive ballot initiative campaign in Massachusetts this cycle. MJBizDaily reported more than $3.7 million in contributions to the "Yes" side, nearly all from SAM Action, and more than $2.75 million raised by opponents. WBUR reported that cannabis industry sources and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts made major contributions to the "No" campaign.

Supporters of the repeal pointed to research on the mental health effects of marijuana, including high-THC products, particularly for adolescents, WBUR reported. Axios Boston reported that SAM Action raised concerns about reports of marijuana-related psychosis and impaired driving.

Opponents argued that a repeal would put thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local tax revenue at risk, and would push consumers to buy out of state or in the unregulated market, according to WBUR.

WBUR also reported that state government data show cannabis use has increased in Massachusetts since dispensaries opened in 2018, while use among adolescents has declined significantly. Some experts who have warned about THC's risks were skeptical the ballot measure would have helped, WBUR reported, and are instead calling on the state to study the health effects of cannabis further and expand education efforts.

Who opposed the measure

Marijuana Moment reported that Gov. Maura Healey (D) and her Republican challenger, Mike Minogue, both said they opposed the repeal, as did U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley. "We could make improvements in the operations but legalizing cannabis is better than continuing an unregulated, underground market," Warren told Marijuana Moment. A September University of New Hampshire poll found that 71% of voters planned to vote against the measure, WBUR reported before the election.

Reactions

"Voters told an out-of-state effort that wanted to dismantle a decade of work and replace progress with restrictive policies, 'No,'" said Ryan Dominguez, executive director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Coalition and chair of the No on 8 campaign, according to MJBizDaily. "Massachusetts voters know that our safe, regulated cannabis market is working," he added.

"There's no 'buyer's remorse' among voters when it comes to legalizing and regulating marijuana," NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, according to Marijuana Moment. "In fact, more Massachusetts voters support legalization today than did a decade ago, and these election results prove it."

Adam J. Smith, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said that "despite a well-funded scare campaign, Massachusetts voters have chosen common sense by defeating the ballot initiative to end the state's legal adult-use cannabis market," Marijuana Moment reported.

On the other side, MJBizDaily reported that SAM Executive Director Kevin Sabet, in a post on X, called the result a "victory" and pledged that another SAM-funded repeal effort in Maine would continue.

What happens next

Because the measure failed, Massachusetts' existing adult-use law stays as it is. Axios Boston reported that Dominguez said the coalition of 700 businesses formed to fight the repeal will keep advocating for the industry on Beacon Hill. "The coalition is going to stay together," Tito Jackson, a former Boston city councilor who owns the dispensary and lounge Apex Noire, said Tuesday night, according to Axios. Jackson and Dominguez said they expect the industry to focus on setting up the state's social consumption market and enforcing the state's recent cannabis reform law, Axios reported.

Other cannabis results from Nov. 3

Massachusetts was not the only cannabis question on Tuesday's ballots. Marijuana Moment reported that Idaho voters defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have kept voters from ever legalizing marijuana or other drugs through future ballot measures, and that voters in Houston approved a measure making misdemeanor marijuana possession the "lowest possible enforcement priority" for local police while also banning no-knock warrants.

Why it matters beyond Massachusetts

MJBizDaily called Question 8 a first-of-its-kind referendum on marijuana legalization, and Axios Boston described the campaign as having turned Massachusetts into "a testing ground for those seeking to repeal state laws legalizing cannabis sales." MJBizDaily also reported that SAM has said its repeal push in Maine will continue.

Vote totals cited here were partial, with about 80% of the expected vote counted as of Wednesday morning, and may change as counting finishes. This article is news coverage, not legal advice.