Dispensary owners, health care workers and activists gathered on the steps of the Massachusetts State House on Thursday, railing against a ballot question that would roll back legal marijuana.
Speakers and attendees, organized by a committee called Stop the Repeal, pointed to the economic costs of eliminating what the Cannabis Control Commission calls an $1.65 billion marijuana industry in Massachusetts.
“They’re here to shut our businesses down. They’re here to hurt our investors, all of the folks who’ve actually put up money to be in this industry” said former Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson, owner of Apex Noire, a dispensary and bar in Boston.
The group came out to speak against a ballot initiative scheduled for November to repeal the state law permitting the sale of recreational marijuana. Critics say the 10-year-old law hasn’t reduced crime, the commission is “a disaster,” and has led to an increase in youth marijuana use.
Advocates point to a February poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center showing 63% of Massachusetts voters oppose rolling back legal weed.
Jobs are at stake, too — more than 20,000 of them, according tothe Cannabis Control Commission, the state regulatory agency. That’s a concern for Jackson, who employs 37 people at his business.
“They need to be able to be made whole and to stay whole and to be able to continue to take care of their families and take care of their lives,” Jackson said.
Beyond the private sector, the Massachusetts cannabis industry brings in millions in tax dollars, advocates say —$289 million for the state and $50 million for municipalities last year.
Fitchburg Mayor Samantha Squailia said that funding is crucial for her city.
“These dollars help support a broader local revenue picture at a time when cities and towns are facing steeply rising costs for health insurance, infrastructure, public safety, solid waste, education and just basic services,” Squailia said.
Some say marijuana owners and consumers aren’t taking the threat of these losses seriously enough.
“You hear nothing,” said Vanda Bernadeau, a business development manager with the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. “You hear it’s not gonna happen.”
Cannabis business owners also said the threat of repeal is already causing investors and entrepreneurs to think twice about joining the industry.
“It’s causing people to hesitate on the value of the market with this threat that it could all be gone this time next year,” said Jordan Mackenzie-Whittaker, the owner of the Weedaker Group, a consulting business for cannabis companies.
