Boston, MA: Most voters say that they oppose a November ballot measure (Question 8) that seeks to repeal key elements of Massachusetts’ voter-approved marijuana legalization law, according to statewide polling compiled by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said that they either oppose or are likely to oppose the proposal – making Question 8 the least popular of the nine measures appearing on November’s ballot. Only 33 percent of respondents expressed support for the measure. Self-identified Trump voters and Republicans were the only groups approaching majority support for the ballot repeal question. However, only eight percent of Massachusetts voters are registered Republicans.
By contrast, polling compiled by the Suffolk University Political Research Center reports that 79 percent of Democratic primary voters oppose the repeal initiative. About 25 percent of Massachusetts voters are registered Democrats.
A prior poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center reported that 63 percent of all Massachusetts voters, including 69 percent of registered Independents, oppose repealing the law.
The November ballot measure (An Act to Restore a Sensible Marijuana Policy) seeks to repeal decade-old laws permitting adults to home-cultivate marijuana and regulating the adult-use retail cannabis market, among other changes. Financing for the campaign has come entirely from a single out-of-state special interest group.
The vote will mark the first time that voters have ever decided on a ballot measure to repeal an existing adult-use marijuana legalization law. Massachusetts’ voters approved legalization in 2016.
NORML has several resources and fact sheets opposing the initiative campaign available in Election Central. Additional information is available from the Committee to Protect Cannabis Regulation.