Deceptive tactics alleged in campaign to end Massachusetts cannabis legalization

The ballot initiative campaign seeking to end Massachusetts’ $1.6 billion annual legal cannabis industry says it’s not affiliated with the signature gatherers accused of using misleading and deceptive behavior to fool voters into signing petitions.But there would be little anyone could do even if it were, because such “bait-and-switch” tactics involving false or misleading information are constitutionally protected free speech activities, elections experts say.

ADVERTISEMENT If it qualifies for the 2026 state ballot and is approved by a simple majority of voters, the Act to Restore Sensible Marijuana Policy would outlaw adult-use cannabis sales in Massachusetts.Medical cannabis would remain legal.

To qualify for the ballot, the campaign has until Dec.3 to collect 75,000 valid signatures from state voters, but organizers say they plan to collect at least 100,000.

To do this, some signature-gatherers are resorting to deception, according to several accounts, such as insisting the cannabis recriminalization campaign does something else, like “take fentanyl off our streets.” That’s what Josh Wallis, a Boston-area tattoo artist, heard from a signature gatherer outside a Medford, Massachusetts, supermarket on Oct.27, he told MJBizDaily.

Incensed, Wallis later filed complaints with local law enforcement as well as the state Election Division.But as the latter told him, “signature gathering on petitions is a protected free speech activity subject only to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions.” Campaign to make marijuana illegal again distances itself MJBizDaily shared details of Wallis’ experience and similar reports with Wendy Wakeman, a Republican Party strategist active in Massachusetts state politics and the spokesperson for the anti-legalization campaign.

In an interview Thursday, Wakeman acknowledged the campaign is using paid signature gatherers.However, she claimed that the si...