BOSTON — Cannabis entrepreneurs, municipal leaders and health experts joined forces Thursday to launch a campaign against the ballot measure to repeal legalized recreational marijuana, comparing their push to the American Revolution.

“Two hundred fifty years ago, we had to chase some stuffy dudes with red coats out of the city, and today we’re going to chase some stuffy folks from red states out of this city,” said Tito Jackson, a former Boston city councilor and owner of a Boston cannabis dispensary. “They don’t have our vision, they don’t have our voice, and in the words of Kendrick Lamar, they are not like us, ladies and gentlemen.”

The Stop the Repeal campaign will rely on grassroots efforts to encourage Bay Staters to “vote no” against the ballot measure funded by “out-of-state” interests, said chair Ryan Dominguez, the executive director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Coalition. The ballot question seeks to roll back commercial marijuana legalization that voters authorized a decade ago.

The Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts that’s advancing the measure received $1.55 million last year from Virginia-based SAM Action, Inc., according to campaign finance reports. The nonprofit is “dedicated to promoting healthy marijuana policies that do not legalize drugs” and is affiliated with Smart Approaches to Marijuana that aims to educate the public about the “harms” of legalized cannabis.

“First and foremost, we’re dealing with SAM, which is Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a national prohibitionist group that has over $20 million in the bank,” Dominguez said at a press conference on the State House steps. “They’re also the ones that are suing the federal government to stop rescheduling.”

A Coalition for Healthy Massachusetts spokesperson did not respond to a News Service request for comment. The campaign website says marijuana legalization has contributed to rising rates of impaired driving, and points to heightened risks for children, teens and pets.

Dominguez made a donation plea, and detailed a strategy in which cannabis retailers, cultivators and licensees should share campaign materials with patients and customers. He urged supporters to call friends and family, and keep the public informed during community events this summer.

“I need you to call everyone you know and ensure that they understand how serious this is,” Jackson added. “This is very real, and I actually also need you to speak to everybody in the cannabis industry because I’ve been talking to some folks that are like, ‘Na, that can’t happen, that won’t happen.'”

A University of New Hampshire poll in February found 63% of Massachusetts voters somewhat or strongly oppose the ballot measure.

Dr. Benjamin Caplan, founder of CED Clinic that provides “medical cannabis care,” said cannabis, which was prevalent before legalization, will not disappear if the ballot measure passes.

“It will make cannabis less regulated, less visible, and harder to control,” Caplan said, as he pointed to the existing regulatory framework that ensures cannabis products are tested and labeled, and are legal for people ages 21 and older.

“I’d rather counsel a patient using a tested labeled product than a mystery product from an illegal market,” Caplan added. “The alternative is an illegal market with no required testing, no standardized labeling, no licensed seller, no recall pathway and no meaningful public accountability. That is not public health — that’s going back.”

Since legalization, cannabis sales have grossed more $9 billion, according to the Cannabis Control Commission. In fiscal 2024, Fitchburg Mayor Samantha Squailia said the city collected nearly $700,000 in cannabis excise tax revenues.

“These dollars help support the broader local revenue picture at a time when cities and towns are facing steeply rising costs for health insurance, infrastructure, public safety, solid waste, education and just basic services,” Squailia said. “Removing this regulated industry would have major fiscal consequences for all of us: licensed businesses would be affected, people losing their jobs, local revenue would cause service disruptions or disinvestment in our communities.”

The initiative petition recently survived a legal challenge that sought to prevent it from reaching the November ballot.

A handful of participants in a social equity program for entrepreneurs disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibition and enforcement argued Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s constitutionally required summary was “grossly deficient,” and that the ballot measure contained multiple subjects that are not related or mutually dependent. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Campbell’s summary was fair and that the petition’s provisions are related.

“I think we had some very valid points in our SJC challenge,” Dominguez told the News Service. “It was a little sad to see, I think, with the rent control and the tax initiative getting thrown out. I think we had just as strong of a case.”

Alison Kuznitz is a reporter for State House News Service and State Affairs Pro Massachusetts. Reach her at [email protected].