Orleans, Brewster Cannabis Shops Push Back Against Question 8

Local marijuana retailers on the Lower Cape are rallying together against a question on the ballot of next month’s state election seeking to prohibit their operation.

 A “yes” vote on Question 8 at the Nov. 3 election would repeal laws allowing the sale, regulation and taxation of recreational marijuana and allowing people to grow marijuana at home. The state Cannabis Control Commission would continue to regulate the sale of medical marijuana.

The question, if passed, would also allow people over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana without penalty and up to two ounces with only a civil penalty. For persons under the age of 21, possession of up to two ounces of marijuana would be a civil offense.

The question is being brought forward by the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, Inc. According to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, almost all of the funds raised by the organization, approximately $1.5 million, have come from the Alexandria, Va. nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

Founded by David Frum, Kevin Sabet and former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Smart Approaches to Marijuana describes itself on its website as an organization “dedicated to promoting healthy marijuana policies that do not legalize drugs.”

“SAM Action’s funding overwhelmingly comes from small, non-tax deductible donations from private individuals whose lives have been negatively impacted by drugs,” the website reads.

The ballot question comes eight years after voters in Massachusetts supported the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2018. Orleans’ first recreational marijuana retailer, Seaside Cannabis Co., opened its doors on Lots Hollow Road in December 2023. In July 2024, the town’s second licensed marijuana retailer, Ember Gardens, opened on Route 6A. 

Spencer Knowles, a partner with Seaside Cannabis, said marijuana retailers first became aware of the ballot question last fall and have been organizing against the initiative since.

“This outside group is extremely well-funded,” he said. “The industry is made of a lot of independent operators, a lot of different sized businesses, and the industry got together and formed a campaign committee.”

Seaside has been educating its customers around the ballot question, Knowles said, adding that the store has distributed about 150 lawn signs encouraging people to vote against the question on Nov. 3.

Ember Gardens has taken a similar approach. Dan Gillan, the retailer’s chief operating officer, said the store has similarly been distributing yard signs and handouts to customers. It has also launched a social media campaign against the question on Instagram and Facebook.

Gillan said while he’s optimistic that the question won’t pass with voters, marijuana retailers across the state aren’t taking the matter lightly.

“It’s been really great to see every little angle of this industry come together from cultivation facilities to producers to dispensaries,” he said. “Everyone’s taking it very seriously.”

So too is Seaside. Knowles noted the store’s long journey to opening its doors, including a citizens petition seeking to ban the sale of marijuana in town that narrowly passed at town meeting in 2018.

“If you assume your vote doesn’t count, I’d just remind people in Orleans that we lost by 15 votes the first time in 2018,” he said.

At The Haven Center in Brewster, Bryan Ponte, the retailer’s operations manager, said staff are similarly working to educate people about the question ahead of next month’s election. Haven also operates a store in Provincetown.

“It just feels like whoever is doing this is trying to insult the residents of Massachusetts,” he said, noting the state’s vote to legalize marijuana eight years ago.

Local retailers question the veracity of the initiative, including its intention to ban the for-profit sale of marijuana while allowing its possession to remain legal.

“So now you’re saying if they don’t get a medical card, they’ve got to either go to a different state...or push [marijuana] back into the illicit market, because the possession of it is still legal,” Knowles said. He accused the question’s proponents of playing into people’s fears around marijuana’s legalization without having the facts to support their position.

The Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts website cites 2025 data from the American College of Surgeons showing that 42 percent of drivers in fatal crashes tested positive for THC from marijuana. However, the study does not link THC as the direct cause of those accidents. The coalition also cites a 2018 report from NBC Boston stating that license revocations for operating under the influence of drugs were up 65 percent from the previous three years. The article makes no mention of marijuana.

Questions about security surrounded plans for retail shops in the early aftermath of the 2018 vote to legalize marijuana. But Orleans Police Chief Scott MacDonald said that he’s not aware of any issues that have arisen regarding the operation of the town's two recreational shops. 

“It seems to me and others in the industry that they’re trying to set precedent here in Massachusetts or in Maine, and then roll this out to other states as sort of this anti-cannabis lobbying effort,” Gillan said.

Ember Gardens, which Gillan said employs 15 local workers, has received a “warm welcome” since opening its doors in 2024. The company is readying the launch of a new location on Boston’s Newbury Street, hopefully at the start of 2027.

Gillan said he doesn’t believe there’s “huge pushback” against the legal sale of marijuana, but said that the question as written may be designed to fool people into voting “yes” on the measure.

 “I think they’re just running sort of on this gotcha campaign where maybe they can get some ‘yes’ votes out of people on the Lower Cape that might be in support, but they’ve got this confusing way of addressing the question,” he said.

Ponte said repealing the legalization of recreational marijuana sales wouldn’t just adversely impact a fast-growing industry, but also the towns in which they operate. According to figures provided by the town of Brewster, the town has generated more than $657,000 in sales tax revenue from retail marijuana since fiscal 2024. With that money, the town was able to add two new firefighter/EMT positions to the fire department, Town Manager Peter Lombardi said in an email.

“A few years ago, we completed a staffing study that identified the need to increase fire department staffing to meet service demands and this supplemental funding allowed us to do so without an operating override,” he said.

In Orleans, the town has received more than $468,000 in sales tax revenue through retail marijuana, according to data provided by the town.

“If this passes, you’re hurting the towns beyond just not allowing people to buy [marijuana],” Ponte said.

Ponte added that de-legalizing the commercial sale of recreational marijuana would also eliminate the safeguards put in place by the industry around the sale of recreational products. Retailers are held to strict standards by the Cannabis Control Commission with regard to testing and ensuring the safety of their products, he said.

“[Customers] trust us, they feel confident buying it. And we take that seriously,” he said.

There’s also concern about the jobs that would be lost if Question 8 were to pass. Knowles said the industry is responsible for providing approximately 20,000 jobs statewide.

“These are true local jobs,” he said. “And last time I checked, on Cape Cod it’s hard to find year-round jobs.”

While local retailers are optimistic that a “no” vote will prevail on Nov. 3, they say it’s not enough to win the question. Ponte said he hopes a decisive victory will put “the nail in the coffin” on the marijuana debate in Massachusetts.

“We can’t as a state just win,” Knowles echoed. “We need to win handily and send a message to this out-of-state group that they should go bark up some other state’s tree.”

The Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts did not respond to a request for comment.