Out-of-State Interests are Fueling the Shadowy Campaign for Cannabis Repeal in Massachusetts

The Carpetbagger Chronicles: How Virginia’s Dark Money and Out-of-State Interests are Fueling the Shadowy Campaign for Cannabis Repeal in Massachusetts

Cannabis repeal in Massachusetts has become the primary objective of a Virginia-based interest group that appears to have remarkably little connection to the actual residents of the Commonwealth. On Monday, March 23rd, the Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions held a public hearing that served as a stark, somewhat jarring reminder of the massive gulf between these out-of-state interests and our local reality. At the center of the proceedings was Wendy Wakeman, the North Andover spokesperson for this Massachusetts cannabis opposition—a movement orchestrated by SAM Action Inc., a 501(c)4 “dark money” group based in Virginia whose donor list remains hidden from the very voters they are trying to influence.

It appears that manufacturing a “grassroots” movement in the Bay State requires a significant out-of-state investment when local enthusiasm is non-existent. SAM Action has funneled $1.2 million into a $1.5 million signature-gathering campaign, outsourcing the “will of the people” to Ground Game Political Solutions, a firm based in Missouri. When the Committee questioned why a Virginia group was effectively purchasing its way onto our ballot using Missouri labor, Mrs. Wakeman offered little more than a shrug. Claiming she was “not part of the decisions” regarding hiring or funding, she did, however, concede a vital and damaging point: without the paid out-of-state collectors, this cannabis repeal measure would never have qualified for the ballot. It isn’t a movement; it’s a transaction.

The testimony took a turn toward the surreal when Mrs. Wakeman attempted to describe the very industry she seeks to dismantle. She characterized the Massachusetts cannabis market as an “unregulated” landscape of black-market back-door deals—a narrative that is, frankly, insulting to the thousands of local professionals who adhere to the nation’s strictest compliance standards. In reality, Massachusetts products are meticulously tracked via RFID from seed to sale. If her allegations of widespread illicit activity in licensed dispensaries were based in any shred of reality, the state’s stringent testing and enforcement protocols would have shuttered those doors years ago. We have seen companies forced to close simply for failing a single state-mandated test; to suggest the industry is a “wild west” is not just “snark-worthy,” it is factually bankrupt.

The most telling—and arguably most uncomfortable—moment of the hearing occurred at the 30:23 mark. When asked by a Committee member how her proposal would impact the illicit market, Wakeman lapsed into a staggering 15-second silence, a “dead air” moment that felt like an eternity in a legislative chamber. Her eventual answer? She “had never thought of that.” It is deeply concerning that the face of a million-dollar cannabis repeal in Massachusetts campaign has not considered basic economic supply and demand. Removing a regulated, taxed, and tested market does not make cannabis disappear; it simply hands the keys back to unregulated, untested, and dangerous illicit traffickers who would flood the state with products rejected by other markets. (you can hear her thin testimony in full here)

While Virginia-based political consultants collect their checks and Missouri signature-gatherers head home, the actual residents of the Commonwealth are doing the heavy lifting. The Massachusetts cannabis industry currently supports 30,000 jobs and has generated over $2 billion in state and local tax revenue. These funds go toward schools, infrastructure, and public safety. Furthermore, local companies like CNA Stores Inc. and our neighbors have contributed over $1 million to hyper-local charities in Amesbury and Haverhill, filling critical gaps left by federal funding cuts. Since 2020, our team has logged over 3,250 hours of community service. This is the “boots on the ground” work that actually sustains our communities—not the shadowy maneuvers of a political action group from the South.

Massachusetts is home to the world’s finest healthcare and educational institutions; we are more than capable of managing our own regulatory affairs without the “help” of out-of-state carpetbaggers who lack transparency, accountability, and a basic understanding of our laws.

The bottom line: Let’s not let out-of-state interests throw off the Massachusetts balance. We built this industry, we regulated it, and we reap its benefits. We should not allow an unaccountable group from Virginia to dictate the future of the Commonwealth.

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