In Massachusetts, 62 state lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans, including House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka — are urging voters to reject Question 8 on the November ballot, a measure that would repeal the state’s regulated recreational cannabis sales and home cultivation rights.
Their case is simple: legalization worked. Adult-use sales have topped $8 billion, the state has collected $1.58 billion in tax revenue (another $300 million for local governments), and going back would hand the market to the same unregulated black market legalization was meant to replace. State Sen. Liz Miranda put the racial-justice case plainly: recriminalizing cannabis would bring back enforcement “targeted disproportionately at Black and Brown communities.” Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Gov. Maura Healey all say they’re voting no on the repeal.
Here’s what stings for Kentucky: Massachusetts voters get to decide this at the ballot box. They voted to legalize in 2016, and this November they get to vote on whether to keep it.
Kentuckians don’t get that choice. Kentucky is a non-ballot-initiative state, which means voters can’t put a measure on the ballot themselves. Only the General Assembly can send a constitutional amendment to the voters — and so far, it hasn’t.
That’s exactly what KCFC’s petition is about: showing lawmakers that Kentuckians want the vote. The proposal mirrors HB225 — adults 21 and older could possess up to one ounce and cultivate, harvest, and store up to five plants for personal use, free of criminal sanction, with the General Assembly regulating production, processing, and sale.
Between July 2002 and June 2022, 303,264 Kentuckians were charged with cannabis offenses. That’s the cost of waiting.
Read the full story at Marijuana Moment: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/dozens-of-massachusetts-lawmakers-urge-voters-to-keep-marijuana-sales-legal-by-rejecting-measure-on-november-ballot/
Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/LetKentuckyVote
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