💸 The Tape

While the cannabis industry celebrates NYSE listings, DEA registrations, and Schedule III implementation, a quieter threat is building in two of the Northeast's most established legal markets — and the industry isn't paying nearly enough attention.

Both Massachusetts and Maine are facing active ballot initiatives that would repeal adult-use cannabis sales entirely. If either succeeds, it would be the first time any state has reversed a voter-approved legalization law — a precedent that would send shockwaves through the industry, embolden prohibitionist groups nationally, and put billions of dollars in operator investment at risk.

Massachusetts: On the November 2026 Ballot

This one is real, and it's happening.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled on June 12 that the adult-use repeal initiative will appear on the November 2026 ballot, rejecting a legal challenge from cannabis retailers who argued the measure violated the state's single-subject requirement for ballot questions. Justice Elizabeth Dewar wrote that the petition's provisions "all relate to the common purpose of restricting the use of recreational marijuana through a new integrated scheme for marijuana regulation."

The initiative would eliminate the entire regulated adult-use industry — shutting down over 400 licensed retail operators and dismantling the framework that has generated approximately $1.65 billion in annual sales. Adults would still be permitted to possess up to one ounce without penalty, and the medical marijuana program would remain intact.

The measure requires a simple majority — more than 50% of votes cast — to pass.

The proponents gathered over 76,000 signatures in roughly three months using paid signature collectors, and reform advocates have accused the campaign of misleading voters about the petition's actual purpose — framing it as a safety or testing measure rather than a full repeal. The State Ballot Law Commission rejected a challenge to these tactics.

SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) announced multimillion-dollar support for the Massachusetts repeal campaign, with CEO Kevin Sabet positioning it as part of a broader national strategy to roll back legalization.

The good news for the industry: polling suggests the initiative faces an uphill battle. A University of New Hampshire survey in February found only 20% of voters support the repeal — a figure that would need to nearly triple for the measure to pass. Massachusetts voters approved legalization with 54% in 2016, and public support for legal cannabis has only grown since.

But complacency is the enemy. Low-turnout elections, misleading campaign messaging, and well-funded opposition can produce unexpected results — particularly if the cannabis industry and reform advocates don't mount a coordinated defense.

The operators with the most at stake in Massachusetts include Curaleaf, which operates multiple dispensaries across the state; Green Thumb Industries, which runs RISE Dispensaries in the market; Cresco Labs, with both cultivation and retail operations; Ascend Wellness, which has built a significant Massachusetts presence; and TerrAscend, which operates Apothecarium retail locations. Proposed legislation would expand the current three-store cap to six per operator, potentially doubling MSO retail footprints — a reform that becomes meaningless if the entire adult-use market is repealed.

A repeal would also eliminate social equity programs, grant funding, technical assistance, and the economic infrastructure that supports hundreds of small businesses and thousands of jobs across the commonwealth.

Maine: Pushed to 2027 — But Not Dead

Maine's repeal effort is less advanced but shouldn't be dismissed.

The initiative — titled "An Act to Amend the Cannabis Legalization Act and the Maine Medical Use of Cannabis Act" — was approved for signature collection by the Secretary of State in December 2025. The campaign, led by Mainers for a Safe and Healthy Future and backed by SAM, needed 67,682 valid signatures by February 2, 2026 to qualify for the 2026 ballot.

They missed the deadline. The campaign did not submit any signatures by the February cutoff, pushing the effort to the November 2027 ballot with a new signature deadline of June 8, 2027.

Like Massachusetts, the Maine initiative would eliminate all licensed adult-use cultivation, manufacturing, and retail operations while allowing possession of up to 2.5 ounces. It would also prohibit home cultivation — currently legal at up to six mature plants — and add stricter testing and tracking requirements to the medical program.

The campaign has been plagued by accusations of deceptive signature gathering. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows told lawmakers that petition circulators are "protected by First Amendment rights to mislead, lie or say whatever they want" and that she lacks enforcement authority over the truthfulness of their claims. Reform advocates reported that gatherers frequently presented the petition as focused on product safety and testing rather than disclosing that it would repeal legal sales entirely.

Maine's adult-use market generated approximately $250 million in annual sales in 2025. Voters originally approved legalization in 2016 with just 50.3% — the narrowest margin of any legalization vote in the country — making it theoretically more vulnerable to reversal than states where legalization passed with stronger mandates.

Like Massachusetts, Maine requires a simple majority to pass the initiative. The 2027 timeline gives the industry more time to organize, but also gives the opposition more time to gather signatures and build a campaign.

Key operators in Maine include Curaleaf, which operates retail and cultivation in the state, along with local operators like Wellness Connection, Theory Wellness, and SeaWeed Co. — the latter of which has been among the most vocal opponents of the repeal effort.

What the Industry Should Be Doing

The playbook for defeating these initiatives isn't complicated. It's the same one that has won legalization votes in state after state. But it requires action — now.

Fund opposition campaigns early. The Massachusetts vote is five months away. Every major MSO operating in the state should be contributing to a coordinated opposition effort. Waiting until October is too late. The 20% support number is reassuring, but it only holds if voters actually understand what they're voting on.

Combat misinformation aggressively. Both campaigns have relied on framing repeal as a "safety" or "testing" measure. The industry and advocacy organizations need to ensure voters understand that these initiatives would destroy thousands of jobs, eliminate hundreds of millions in tax revenue, and hand the market back to the illicit operators that legalization was designed to displace.

Mobilize the consumer base. Massachusetts has over 400 retail operators serving hundreds of thousands of customers. Maine has a deeply loyal cannabis consumer community. These are voters who use the legal market every week. They need to understand that their access is on the ballot — and they need to show up.

Engage local governments and communities. Every municipality that receives cannabis tax revenue, every town that hosts a dispensary, every community that has benefited from legalization-funded grants should understand what repeal means for their budgets and their residents.

Don't let SAM set the narrative. Kevin Sabet's organization has positioned these campaigns as the beginning of a national rollback strategy. If Massachusetts or Maine succeeds, SAM will take the playbook to Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and every other legal state. The industry cannot afford to treat these as local issues. They are existential threats with national implications.

No state has ever reversed a voter-approved cannabis legalization law. The industry's job is to make sure Massachusetts and Maine don't become the first.

📈 Dog Walkers

Marijuana Moment Requests ALJ Hearing Livestream

The most important cannabis hearing in federal history is about to begin — and the public might not be able to watch it happen.

Marijuana Moment has formally asked Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius to reconsider his decision to prohibit livestreaming of the June 29 DEA rescheduling hearing, arguing that a proceeding of this magnitude "is not meaningfully public if access depends on the happenstance of limited physical attendance" at a single facility in Arlington, Virginia.

The request, filed Tuesday by Marijuana Moment counsel Joseph Bondy, highlights a glaring inconsistency: the DEA permitted livestreaming of the earlier Biden-era rescheduling hearing that was subsequently cancelled. Bondy argued that the rationale for transparency "has not diminished" and that any security or operational concerns should be addressed through "narrow conditions rather than a categorical ban."

Julius had acknowledged in his preliminary order that "national public interest in this issue predicates towards a policy of transparency" — then immediately ruled that the hearing would not be televised, livestreamed, or broadcast in any way, with no audio or video recording permitted inside the courtroom.

The practical effect is significant. The hearing will consider whether all marijuana — beyond the medical cannabis already rescheduled — should move from Schedule I to Schedule III. Only opponents of rescheduling have been designated to participate. And the proceedings will unfold behind effectively closed doors, accessible only to those who can physically travel to Arlington and secure one of a limited number of seats.

Bondy's letter was direct: "The press reports events as they unfold. The public evaluates government action in real time. And in a proceeding of this magnitude, transparency is not a courtesy. It is a safeguard."

Marijuana Moment emphasized it is not seeking party status or any role in the proceedings — only contemporaneous public and press access to a hearing that will shape federal cannabis policy for years to come.

A response was requested by Thursday. The hearing begins Sunday.

🗞️ The News

📺 Trade To Black

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• Virginia Opportunity: Trent Woloveck of Jushi Holdings discusses Virginia's newly approved adult-use framework through the state budget, with regulated sales beginning July 1, 2027 — covering the licensing structure, $10 million conversion pathway for existing medical operators, taxation, and market rollout timeline.

• Emerging Market Leader: Virginia is increasingly viewed as one of the most important emerging cannabis markets in the U.S., with 100,000+ medical patients, five vertically integrated licenses held by major MSOs, and an adult-use market projected to exceed $780 million in its first year.