Cannabis Prohibitionists ‘Tricking’ Voters to Sign Petition in Massachusetts

Those gathering signatures in hopes of repealing Massachusetts’ $1.6 billion adult-use cannabis program may not be being straightforward with voters for their 2026 initiative campaign, according to one industry trade group.

The Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) accused the prohibitionist signature gatherers of committing organized voter fraud for their ballot proposal, “An Act to Restore a Sensible Marijuana Policy.”

The MCBA pointed to personal accounts on Reddit and Facebook, as well as reports from an independent journalist. According to the association, “unscrupulous signature contractors” are known to use fake cover sheets for unrelated ballot petitions, with reports from voters in Waltham claiming they’re being duped into signing petitions for affordable housing or same-day voter registration.

“Online news, social media, and the personal experiences of multiple voters across Massachusetts clearly demonstrate that these for-hire, out-of-state signature crews are using deceptive tactics to trick people into signing the petitions needed for the cannabis repeal questions to appear on the ballot,” MCBA President and CEO David O’Brien said in an Oct. 31 press release.

The initiative campaign, backed financially by the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts political committee, has until Dec. 3 to submit 74,574 valid signatures from registered voters to the secretary of state’s office to move on to the next steps in qualifying for the ballot.

Earlier this month, campaign spokesperson Wendy Wakeman, who chairs the coalition’s committee, told Cannabis Business Times that the signature-gathering phase is “going well” and that it’s “on track.”

The MCBA pointed to a Reddit post from Oct. 20, when registered voters in Wilmington accused signature gatherers of suspicious tactics.

“I was approached by a man at Market Basket today who asked me to sign a petition to make sure kids didn’t go to jail for minor marijuana offenses,” the post states. “Big sign behind him that read D.A.R.E. to keep kids off drugs. When I read it, it was clearly the petition to criminalize marijuana again. Stay sharp and know what you’re signing!”

Voters in other cities have reported that signature gatherers are claiming that the ballot question will strengthen fentanyl testing requirements for cannabis and expand buffer zones between dispensaries and schools, according to the MCBA.

CBT has also received reports from registered Massachusetts voters who feel like they’re being deceived.

Josh Wallis told CBT that signature gatherers were “willfully misleading” potential signers on Oct. 27 outside of the Wegman’s supermarket in Medford.

“I was approached by a solicitor for 25-10 B claiming his petition was for an initiative to “get fentanyl off the streets,” he said. “When I told him that was not true, and that I knew his petition was to recriminalize cannabis, he angrily denied it.”

What the petition would do is reverse the cannabis legalization measure that Massachusetts voters passed with a 54% majority in the 2016 election by ending the state’s licensed commercial marketplace, including cultivation, manufacturing and dispensary sales. The state’s cannabis industry supports 27,000-some full-time workers, according to industry hiring platform Vangst.

Under the proposal, possessing up to 1 ounce of cannabis or 5 grams of concentrate would remain decriminalized for those 21 and older, as would gifting these amounts between adults. Also, the state’s medical cannabis program would still be allowed.

But, according to the MCBA, signature gatherers aren’t necessarily conveying the specifics.

“These out-of-state crews go from state to state collecting signatures, and clearly they’re having trouble here in Massachusetts finding people who want to repeal our highly effective cannabis laws and kill our successful cannabis industry,” O’Brien said. “This is voter fraud that people should report to their local town hall.”

In warning the state’s voters, the MCBA informed those who think they may have been misled to sign a petition to contact their town clerks and request that they not certify their signatures.

In addition to Waltham, Wilmington and Medford, the MCBA indicated that it had also received reports of “bait-and-switch tactics” occurring in Burlington, Chicopee, Brockton, Longmeadow, and Westfield. 

Also, Chris Faraone, co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, reported that signature gatherers were misinforming petition signers outside the Trader Joe’s in Hanover and the Walmart in Weymouth.

“I have now confirmed … that the guy collecting the signatures out there is not telling people what the ballot initiative is really about,” Faraone said of the Trader Joe’s. “All they’re saying is that ‘sign this so that we stop throwing kids in jail for weed.’ Well, guess what, we’re not throwing kids in jail for weed.”

Under the proposal, possessing between 1 ounce and 2 ounces of cannabis would subject individuals to a civil penalty of $100 and product forfeiture, while those younger than 21 would also have to complete a drug awareness program and community service.

What the signature gatherers aren’t telling people, according to Faraone, is that the state’s adult-use industry has provided nearly $1.5 billion in state revenues from excise and sales taxes since dispensary sales launched in December of 2018, and that tens of thousands of jobs and ancillary businesses would be impacted by ending the state’s regulated system.

Meg Sanders, CEO of Canna Provisions, an employee-owned dispensary with locations in Lee and Holyoke, Mass., told CBT earlier this month that the issue at stake is freedom.

“All we’d be doing is voting for the drug war to start again, and it’s failed. It’s already failed. We’ve proven it’s a failure, and the war on drugs is a war on people,” she said. “I think taking away the freedom of home grow is absolutely horrible for lots of reasons. Economically, for some people, that is the only way they can afford cannabis. I just think it’s very, very important that we understand that they are trying to bring back the war on drugs, and that’s not OK.”

Sanders warned voters to expect signature gatherers at their polling locations on Nov. 4 and to take the time to read the petition language before signing it.

“If it doesn’t say what the collector claims, don’t sign it,” she said.