A small group of prohibitionists won state approval this week to launch a petition drive to try to close the recreational cannabis market in Maine and bolster the state’s oversight of the medical marijuana market.

“The timing is right,” said Sen. Scott Cyrway, R-Albion, a D.A.R.E. training coordinator and one of eight signatories of petition paperwork filed with the state in September. “We’ve got illegal Chinese grows, moldy marijuana making people sick. Maine is tired of this. Let’s send it back to the people to decide.”

They have until Feb. 2 to collect 67,682 signatures — 10% of the total votes cast for governor in the 2022 election — to send the proposal to a statewide referendum. The secretary of state’s office approved the petition drive paperwork on Monday.

The proposed citizen initiative would put a referendum question before voters in November 2026 asking to repeal parts of the Maine Cannabis Legalization Act that allow for commercial cultivation, sale, purchase and manufacturing of recreational cannabis and cannabis products.

Legalized by voters in 2016, Maine’s recreational marijuana market has grown from $82 million in 2021, the first full year of sales, to $244 million in 2024, the most profitable year yet. Year-to-date sales put 2025 on pace to reach about $248 million, according to data from the state Office of Cannabis Policy.

The closure of Maine’s recreational market would result in annual losses of about $45.8 million in tax revenue and $1.6 million in regulatory and licensing fees. It would also likely lead to the elimination of 29 state jobs, which would save the state $4.3 million a year, according to the state’s fiscal impact statement.

Rep. Dave Boyer, R-Poland, said the financial impact of closing an industry that rivals Maine lobster, blueberry or potato sectors will likely doom the referendum drive.

“Cannabis is a really big part of our economy now,” said Boyer, a leader of the 2016 legalization campaign and now a ranking Republican on the legislative committee that oversees cannabis policy. “It created hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, thousands of small businesses and over 10,000 jobs.”

If the petition drive is successful, and the initiative is approved by voters next fall, Maine residents could still possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis for personal recreational use — about 28 to 56 joints, depending on the size of the roll — but couldn’t grow it at home.

This would repeal personal freedoms that Mainers have now enjoyed for years, Boyer said.

They could get a medical marijuana card to grow or buy from Maine’s medical market, which for now is not subject to the same testing, tax or regulatory burden as Maine’s recreational market. However, the initiative also calls for more testing and oversight of the medical market.

The state Department of Administrative and Financial Services would have to create testing and track-and-trace programs for all medical cannabis products. Medical operators would have to submit products to a licensed facility for a safety assessment before selling them to patients.

In the last session, a Maine legislative committee killed one bill and carried over another that would have instituted testing and tracking requirements that medical cannabis industry members have said for years would put them out of business or force price increases.

While there has always been tension between the medical and recreational sides of the industry, Boyer predicted that because of its testing and tracking requirements, the petition drive will not find favor among medical marijuana supporters eager to reclaim lost market share.

The petitioners include: Madison and Travis Carey of Gorham, the leaders of Calvary Chapel of Greater Portland; Nicholas Adolphsen, head of the Maine Christian Civic League; Cyrway, the D.A.R.E. training coordinator; and four Albion dairy farmers.

Madison Carey did not respond to a phone call and email request about why she was leading the petition drive. But on Calvary Chapel’s website, Carey and her husband share personal stories of their own addiction recoveries.

Albion dairy farmer Ben Ballantyne, one of the initial petition drive supporters, said that central Maine has been overrun by cannabis shops. He said the lost state tax dollars and jobs aren’t worth the social, health and economic damage being inflicted by widespread use.

“Everywhere you go, you can smell it,” Ballantyne said. “Go into a store, you can smell it. Parents, children, old people, people working on the farm, everybody is using it, walking around all glassy eyed and out of it. We tried it, it didn’t work, and now it needs to go.”