A multimillion-dollar effort by the nation’s most prominent anti-cannabis organization to end legal cannabis sales in Massachusetts appears headed towards a costly and decisive defeat.
And according to the most recent University of Massachusetts, Amherst-WCVB poll of likely state voters – coupled with a parade of elected officials coming out in support of the state’s $1.65 billion annual cannabis industry – defending legalization appears to be uniting the state like no other current issue.
The national cannabis industry is closely watching Massachusetts, where a ballot measure funded by dark-money nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana’s political advocacy arm is bankrolling what could be the first recriminalization of adult-use marijuana sales in the U.S.
But of the nine ballot questions before Massachusetts voters, cannabis repeal proposition Question 8 has the lowest support, according to results of the UMass-WCVB poll released Monday.
Will Massachusetts repeal adult-use cannabis retail sales?
Question 8, which qualified for the ballot amid accusations of deceptive tactics, would outlaw retail adult-use cannabis sales while keeping adult-use possession and medical cannabis sales legal. It’s the first of several repeal efforts to qualify for the ballot, but could serve as a template for other states if successful.
Just 16% of 800 registered voters polled between Oct. 5 and Oct. 12 said they will definitely vote yes to end legal adult-use cannabis sales, WCVB reported Monday.
And cannabis sales also appears to have the most dedicated defenders. Forty-seven percent of registered voters told pollsters they would definitely vote no on Question 8 – far more than any other ballot question, according to the poll.
The poll has a margin of error of 4.6%. Ballot questions are passed in Massachusetts via a simple majority.
The latest temperature check among voters is consistent with prior polling, which also showed Question 8 going down in decisive defeat. And it comes amid mounting opposition from Massachusetts elected officials, more and more of whom are taking public positions against repeal.
Do Massachusetts elected officials support legal cannabis sales?
The city council in Worcester, the state’s second-most populous city and the second-biggest city in New England, will on Tuesday vote on a resolution condemning Question 8.
The resolution is the work of Mayor Joe Petty and would put the city on record supporting “a responsible and well-regulated adult-use cannabis marketplace,” This Week in Worcester reported.
That would put Perry and Worcester among other Massachusetts politicians supporting adult-use cannabis retail sales, including Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Brianna Wu.
Sixty-two members of the Massachusetts state Legislature also oppose Question 8, including House Speaker Ronald Mariano and state Senate President Karen Spilka, according to the No on 8 campaign.
Through the end of September, the most recent data available, nearly all of the $3.5 million contributed in support of Question 8 comes from SAM Action, Inc., according to the latest campaign finance disclosures.
