The Weekly Roll June 26th 2026 SPECIAL EDITION
Jun 26, 2026
Happy Friday!
Welcome back to The Weekly Roll! I hope everyone had a lovely week. Unlike most weeks, I wanted to take an opportunity this week to take a deep dive into the Massachusetts ballot proposition to repeal recreational cannabis. Here are some thoughts from a few different angles about what is at stake here:
Public Safety : The out-of-state group trying to kill recreational marijuana in MA claims that legal cannabis is hurting public safety. A regulated market where products are tested, customers are ID'ed on the way in, and everything is tracked and labeled with information for consumers is unquestionably safer than the black market. Imperfect regulation beats and an unfettered black market every day of the week. It leads to better products, safer transactions, and safer use.
Economic Impact : Massachusetts alone has generated around $2 Billion in taxes from legal cannabis, which it has put towards things like schools, roads, and social equity programs that are helping right the wrongs from the War on Drugs. Our industry employs over 20,000 people who help feed their families, develop useful skills, and build their professional networks thanks to our legal industry. Cannabis is now ingrained into the economic fabric of our state, and losing it would come at a high cost.
Democracy : We voted for this. Not in the 1800s, literally 10 years ago. Massachusetts voters have already made their voices heard. SAM is an out-of-state group backed by seemingly unlimited resources from the Alcohol and Pharmaceutical industries. They are spending millions of dollars to overturn the will of our commonwealth so their benefactors can make billions in the absence of our current market/structure. 250 years after Massachusetts triggered our Nation's independence, SAM chose the wrong state to try to buy.
Arts and Community : Our industry here in MA is extremely connected to our local communities. Whether it is social equity applicants launching businesses that employ members of their communities, community projects and collaborations on events and initiatives, or the dozens of socially conscious brands/retailers who donate proceeds to things like The Last Prisoner Project and other restorative programs throughout our state and nation. This state's industry was the incubator for our own company, ZZZ's, which has now given over $125,000 and counting to emerging artists.
If you are reading this thinking "there's no way this actually passes right?", there is. If we don't show up to the polls, we will lose our industry, and could potentially represent the first domino to fall on a painful journey back in time to when cannabis was a crime.
Please share this around to anyone you know who votes in Massachusetts. Have a great weekend!
Aidan