Massachusetts voted to keep it legal.

Massachusetts voters turned down a proposal to unwind adult-use cannabis sales.

Question 8 was rejected in the November 3, 2026 election. NBC Boston’s projected result showed about three-quarters of voters opposed the measure. The reported returns remain unofficial pending certification.

What was on the ballot?

The proposal would have repealed the laws that legalize, regulate and tax adult-use marijuana retail sales. It also proposed changes to possession rules and a route for existing adult-use businesses to apply for medical dispensary licenses.

Those were proposed changes, rather than rules taking effect after the election. The state’s official voter guide says a No vote leaves existing marijuana law unchanged.

What happens to January 1, 2028?

That date was the measure’s proposed effective date if approved. Its defeat means the proposal does not create a January 2028 shutdown deadline for adult-use retailers.

Why New York is watching

Massachusetts is a neighboring regulated market. Keeping its adult-use framework in place resolves this ballot challenge, but the result alone does not establish an effect on New York sales, prices or cross-border purchasing.

The repeal proposal failed. Massachusetts’s adult-use cannabis framework remains in place.