Massachusetts Initiative Petition to Kill Adult-Use Market Leads CBT’s Top Stories in September

Could states with mature cannabis programs start rolling back their legalization measures?

That’s a question Cannabis Business Times’ readers grappled with this month when news broke that Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell certified an initiative petition proposed for the 2026 ballot that would end the state’s $1.6-billion adult-use market.

The petition, “Any Act to Restore a Sensible Marijuana Policy,” sponsored by Caroline Cunningham, a political consultant, campaign manager and professional fundraiser, is now cleared to start gathering signatures. If she and her petition proponents succeed in landing the measure on the ballot, voters would have the opportunity to repeal the commonwealth’s licensed marketplace, including cultivation and dispensary operations.

This storyline wasn’t just our most-read article in September, but for all of 2025 so far!

While Thailand took a U-turn on cannabis decriminalization earlier this year, when the Southeast Asian nation’s public health minister signed an order banning licensed stores from selling cannabis to nonmedical consumers, no state citizenry in the U.S. has backtracked on cannabis legalization after a licensed and regulated program was implemented. Massachusetts voters legalized adult-use cannabis in 2016, with dispensary sales commencing in 2018.

Taking the No. 2 spot in CBT’s most-read articles this month was a story on 40 U.S. House Democrats reintroducing the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, legislation that would decriminalize and federally legalize cannabis by removing it entirely from the Controlled Substances Act. The bill would also expunge certain cannabis convictions and facilitate resentencing.

“As more states continue to legalize marijuana and public support increases, federal laws must catch up and reverse failed policies criminalizing marijuana,” said New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the bill’s sponsor.

At the opposite end of the reform spectrum, a piece on U.S. House Republicans advancing a measure aimed at blocking President Donald Trump’s administration from rescheduling cannabis, through funding restrictions on the Department of Justice, took the No. 3 spot.

Also landing in September’s Top 10 were stories on Trump’s drug adviser nominee letting Senate Judiciary members know that the White House is exploring “all options” for rescheduling; Minnesota launching adult-use dispensary sales through existing medical cannabis operators; and Texas and California’s pursuit to rein in hemp-derived cannabinoid products.

Don’t miss out on the rest of our Top 10 stories from September 2025.