Massachusetts voters to decide marijuana repeal question after challenge rejected

Massachusetts voters will decide in November if legal marijuana will be repealed after a challenge to the proposal was rejected Tuesday.

The State Ballot Law Commission overruled an objection to the petition seeking to end the Bay State’s recreational cannabis law, allowing the proposal to be printed as a question on the ballot.

The commission’s report found that the “Stop the Repeal” campaigners had “not met burden of proof to disqualify enough signatures” to invalidate the initial petition. The Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts received 12,511 signatures for its repeal petition, “An Act to Restore Sensible Marijuana Policy,” before its July 1 deadline.

If approved, recreational marijuana would be eliminated from Massachusetts while medical marijuana laws remain intact. Recreational dispensaries will have the option to apply to become medical dispensaries.

“This is a victory not just for our coalition, but for every Massachusetts voter who believes citizens, not political gamesmanship, should decide important public policy questions,” coalition spokesperson Wendy Wakeman said in a statement.

Wakeman added that the decision allows Massachusetts voters to “put public health and community well-being ahead of the commercial marijuana industry.”

The Stop the Repeal campaign needed to invalidate at least 123 signatures to repeal the measure from the ballot, according to the commission. Opponents of the coalition claimed around 450 signatures were invalid due to missing information or illegible handwriting.

The commission’s ruling also cited forensic writing expert Jennifer Naso, who said on behalf of the measure’s opponents that it was “inconclusive” if some signatures were signed by the same person.

Kevin Sabet, president of the Virginia-based group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, praised the ruling and said voters will “end addiction for profit in Massachusetts,” according to a statement to the Boston Globe. He previously told the outlet that his group financially backed the repeal group with $1.5 million last year.

But the measure faces firm opposition among Bay State voters. A University of New Hampshire poll released in February found that 63 percent of Massachusetts voters oppose repealing recreational marijuana use.

Massachusetts legalized the recreational use of marijuana after voters approved Question 4, a ballot measure, in 2016.

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