An effort to legalize recreational marijuana collected more than 25,000 signatures, said spokesman Jim Borghesani. "(Voters) made it clear that this is something that they're interested in and they think should be on the ballot," Borghesani said. "We're very happy with the signature collection, and we're very happy to be able to, we think, be on the ballot in November." The marijuana legalization effort faces opposition from a well organizes campaign committee that includes Gov. Charlie Baker and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop.
A spokesman for the animal rights ballot committee Citizens for Farm Animal Protection said the group submitted 40,000 signatures to ban confinement of farm animals, by requiring that breeding pigs, calves raised for veal and egg-laying hens have room to turn around, lie down and stretch their limbs. Businesses would be prohibited from selling meat or eggs from farms that do not meet these standards. Only one farm raising hens currently uses confinement in Massachusetts, and no farms raising pigs or calves do. The biggest impact would be on prohibiting the sale of eggs or meat from out of state, which opponents say would raise prices on those foods.