Amid the so-called Blue Wave that swept the country on Election Day, were more affirmations that cannabis legalization remains popular among the electorate.
There were no ballot measures that would have spread legalization, but there were two failed attempts to move in the other direction. Massachusetts voters rebuked Question 8 which would have recriminalized the adult-use market by 75.7%. Meanwhile, Idaho voters rejected a measure that would have prevented future legalization efforts through the ballot box.
The ballot measure was supported by the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts which spent $3.7 million to repeal legalization. Almost all of those funds were donated by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). The organization attempted to mount similar efforts in Maine and Arizona for the 2026 cycle, but failed to obtain enough signatures in both cases.
A similar campaign, that was also financed by SAM, failed to gather enough signatures in Maine for this election. There was also an effort to recriminalize in Arizona, but the campaign’s sponsor reportedly renounced the effort in May.
In response to the electoral loss SAM announced that it planned to continue attacking legalization through the ballot box.
“The fact Massachusetts residents had this opportunity to vote on repealing marijuana sales is historic. It was the shot heard around the world,” said Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of SAM in a statement in response to the election results. “Though we came up short tonight, this is a pyrrhic victory for the industry and we are not backing down—Maine and other states will be next. The industry will again be forced to defend their supercharged potency products, higher rates of psychosis, higher rates of ER visits, and higher rates of addiction.
Those in opposition to the ballot celebrated its failure.
“Despite a well-funded scare campaign, Massachusetts voters have chosen common sense by defeating the ballot initiative to end the state’s legal adult-use cannabis market. This outcome shows that Massachusetts voters recognize the true value of regulated cannabis markets: reducing youth access, which means significantly fewer kids using cannabis; safer access for adults to rigorously tested and properly labeled products; plummeting arrest rates, which means fewer lives needlessly disrupted and fewer tax dollars wasted; tens of thousands of new jobs, and hundreds of millions in new revenues; and a recognition of personal liberty and freedom of consciousness,” Adam Smith, Executive Director at the Marijuana Policy Project said in a statement released on Nov. 3.
There was a similar campaign in Idaho where cannabis remains illegal. The ballot measure proposed banning the use of ballot measures to legalize cannabis was voted down with 66.3% of the electorate in opposition.
More state efforts will be possible in 2027
Beyond ballot issues, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Hampshire could all potentially legalize cannabis following changed majorities in the legislature.
The Pennsylvania House made several attempts to legalize over the last two years, sending competing bills to the Senate. While there appeared to be bipartisanship to the idea of legalization, with the help of Republican state Sen. Dan Laughlin. The primary hold up was that neither Democrats nor Republicans could find consensus on how legalization should be implemented in the Keystone State.
Next year Democrats will take control of the Senate which could ease the path to a legalization bill.
Similarly, New Hampshire’s legislature made numerous unsuccessful attempts at legalizing over the last few years, but in almost every instance any bill that would convert the state’s medical market into an adult-use one was unable to get past the Republican controlled state Senate. With Democrats in control of both houses an adult-use market could be in the near future for New England’s last legalization hold out. The main obstacle will likely be Governor Kelly Ayotte who has previously vowed to veto any adult-use bill that lands on her desk.
Democrats in Wisconsin submitted a bill that would legalize both medical and adult-use cannabis in the state, which is currently surrounded by states with active markets, with the exception of Iowa.
That bill failed under Republican control. Now that the Democrats have flipped Wisconsin, Incoming Governor David Crowley repeatedly said he wanted to legalize while on the campaign trail. Now that his party will control the governor’s office and both houses of the legislature for the first time since 2011, there is a strong possibility that Wisconsin could join the growing list of states with active cannabis markets.
