Ballot Question 8 Could Turn Back the Clock on Recreational Marijuana Sales

Randy Gerson didn’t expect to build a career overseeing a marijuana dispensary. Now, Massachusetts voters will decide whether he can keep it.

Gerson, 27, studied philosophy in college before he took his first job in the cannabis industry. He is now the general manager of Boston Garden’s Cambridge dispensary, and manages a location with 15 employees that he hopes to expand.

“I can’t see myself doing anything else,” Gerson said.

Ten years after Massachusetts legalized recreational marijuana, Ballot Question 9 aims to end its sale and home cultivation, while preserving the state’s medical marijuana program.

The proposition has garnered the most funding of the nine questions on the ballot — with one committee throwing more than $3.6 million in support and the four committees opposing Question 8 have together spent more than $2.68 million.

But whether ending commercial sales would protect public health or undermine the protections of a regulated market has divided advocates, dispensary owners, and medical professionals.

For Cambridge dispensary owners and workers, Question 8 also raises questions about job security, investments, and the viability of their businesses if their customer base is limited to medical patients.

What would Question 8 do?

A “yes” vote would crack down on marijuana sales effective Jan. 1, 2028, while a “no” vote would leave the current law untouched.

If passed, adults 21 and older could still possess up to one ounce, including no more than 5 grams of concentrate. Existing recreational businesses could apply for medical licenses through an expedited process, but would no longer be able to serve general customers.

Cambridge has eight operating recreational marijuana stores and has five others in the permitting process, according to a city map prepared in March. The city currently has no operating medical marijuana treatment centers.

Supporters say cannabis industry is “built on addiction”

The Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts is Question 8’s primary backer, and has raised more than $3.78 million — 98 percent of which has come from the PAC affiliated with Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a nonprofit that advocates for “a health-first approach to marijuana policy.”

Kevin A. Sabet, the CEO of SAM, wrote that the organization’s support comes primarily from individuals and families affected by marijuana and addiction, along with family foundations. Sabet defended the push for repeal, arguing that the commercial industry “makes its money from heavy users, targets minority communities, and has turned marijuana into

an ultra-potent drug” and that existing regulations cannot adequately address the public health risks it poses.

“You can’t regulate your way out of a business model built on addiction,” he wrote.

Sabet also disputed warnings of business closures from industry leaders, arguing that the 2028 effective date and expedited processing for medical licensing give recreational stores time to pivot.

Experts who have studied the commercialization of recreational marijuana have raised concerns about youth-focused marketing. Candy and mint-flavored products, paired with high potency and heightened public exposure, can “amplify risk among young adolescents and those with serious mental illness,” according to a study published in September by Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital researchers.

Both opponents to Question 8 and legislators have voiced concern over the amount of funding the proposition has drawn from outside of Massachusetts. The SAM PAC lists all of its donations to the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts under a Virginia address, according to campaign finance records.

State Sen. Dylan A. Fernandes, who represents the Plymouth and Barnstable district, argued that the state’s ballot question process designed for Massachusetts citizens to come together and petition their legislators has been overtaken by a small group of wealthy actors.

“Once you collect enough signatures, it’s automatically on the ballot. But people can pay,” he said. “There’s nothing barring people from paying to go collect signatures, and there’s nothing barring people like a campaign from having entirely out of state money funds fund their campaign.”

Sion Kim Harris, an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a scientific adviser to SAM, said that she shared many of the concerns voiced by SAM, specifically regarding the impact that it has on the developing brains of youth leading to increased risk of psychological conditions.

“There’s been a lot of myths from those who are pro-cannabis commercialization, trying to make it out that, ‘Oh you know this helps you be treating your whatever health issue,’ and more often than not, people develop a disorder, problematic use, and they actually do worse,” Harris said.

But Harris said she believes that “turning back the clock” on marijuana legality would not be a good use of time, energy, and resources.

Instead, she said Massachusetts should focus on potency limits, stronger testing protections, marketing restrictions, and reducing youth access rather than repealing legalization.

Opponents call Question 8 “an unserious challenge”

Gerson said converting Boston Garden to medical sales would strain both its finances and staffing — potentially forcing the shop to close its doors permanently.

“At absolute best, it would mean a tremendous amount of strain on the company while trying to transition to a medical license, both costs and staffing,” he said. “At worst, it would mean the loss of our jobs and professions.”

Michael MacNeill, Boston Garden’s CEO, said his chain of stores in Cambridge, Somerville, and Athol would have to assess whether medical conversion made financial sense. He added that the company employs about 50 people across its stores, which it began opening in 2021.

“We have friends in the community, we have neighbors in the community, and we are part of people’s lives,” MacNeill said. “It really would be more than me having to explain to investors what happened or people losing their jobs. It’d also be the communities that have welcomed us in and seen for themselves that cannabis dispensaries in their area are a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Kush Groove co-founder and co-owner Marcus Johnson-Smith said the Cambridge location employs about 15 people. Johnson-Smith, who was born and raised in Cambridge, said opening a business in the city was a personal goal and that the store would likely explore medical licensing if Question 8 passes.

“I think question eight is an unserious challenge to a law that’s been passed by the residents of Massachusetts that reflect their demand for cannabis, for recreational cannabis,” he said.

MacNeill said the industry’s opposition effort has brought together larger cannabis operators and professional services firms to educate consumers about the proposal. At Boston Garden, he said, employees have been discussing the measure with customers.

Millions of dollars have also flowed into the four campaigns opposing the repeal: The Committee to Protect Cannabis Regulation has raised more than $2.97 million and spent nearly $2.63 million. The Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Policy has spent more than $48,000, the Committee for Keep Cannabis Legal has spent about $3,700, and the Democratic Socialists Against Reactionary Rollbacks have raised about $5,700 — spending $15 and reporting more than $1,800 in non-monetary contributions.

Question 8 has also drawn opposition from a number of state lawmakers. State Rep. Jay Livingstone, who represents Boston, said he supported legalization in 2016 because he wanted cannabis brought into a regulated market — and that the market that has emerged since has met expectations.

“What the voters at that time envisioned was instead of having an illegal dark market run by criminals, we would bring this industry into the light and have a regulated, safe industry, which is what has happened in Massachusetts,” Livingstone said.

State Sen. William N. Brownsberger ’78, who represents parts of Cambridge and Allston-Brighton, also voiced opposition to Question 8, arguing that the consequences of prohibition include returning to higher levels of incarcerations and a higher prevalence of unsafe, unregulated substances.

“When it’s sold in an unregulated way, you have people using cannabis that can be adulterated with fentanyl and God knows what,” said Brownsberger.

State Rep. Lindsay N. Sabadosa, who represents parts of Western Massachusetts, said repeal would particularly harm people who entered the industry through programs intended to address the consequences of past marijuana criminalization. Since legalizing recreational marijuana in 2016, the state has launched equity programs to help those previously charged with criminal possession develop businesses in the legal industry.

“There’s been expungement processes for people who were charged only with possession of marijuana, and I just think to go backwards is to reinvite all of those negative effects back into society,” Sabadosa said.

Jesse Mermell, a general consultant for the No on 8 campaign, described the measure as a threat to businesses, public safety, and efforts to expand economic opportunities for communities disproportionately affected by marijuana enforcement.

“People will not stop using recreational marijuana if question eight passes,” Mermell said.

—Staff writer Samuel Ruiz-Macias can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Tess E. Sumner can be reached at [email protected].