Mainers will not weigh in on whether to cease recreational cannabis sales in Maine — at least not this November.

Organizers of the petition drive, which seeks to close the recreational cannabis market in Maine and strengthen state oversight of the medical marijuana market, did not submit their petition signatures by Monday’s deadline, the secretary of state’s office confirmed Wednesday.

At least 67,682 signatures, or 10% of the votes cast for governor in 2022, would have had to be submitted by Feb. 2 to put the cannabis question on the November ballot.

That does not necessarily mean the effort is dead, but it does mean it will not go to voters this year. Madison Carey, one of the organizers of the petition drive, did not answer a phone call Wednesday evening and their voicemail inbox was full.

Organizers were seeking to repeal parts of the Maine Cannabis Legalization Act that allows for commercial cultivation, sale, purchase and manufacturing of recreational cannabis and cannabis products. The 15-page proposal, pushed by the political committee Mainers for a Safe and Healthy Future, would end all recreational sales and home-growing operations beginning Jan. 1, 2028. It would also add tracking and testing standards for medicinal cannabis previously opposed by caregivers.

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. Preliminary sales figures put 2025 on pace to reach about $248 million, but final figures have not yet been released, according to data from the state Office of Cannabis Policy.

The petition effort was subject to criticism after some people accused signature collectors of misrepresenting the initiative. One person who spoke with the Press Herald last month said the petition was represented to them as an effort to ensure cannabis was free of toxic chemicals. They only learned it was to end recreational cannabis sales in Maine after they had signed.

At the time, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said there was nothing her office could do if signature gatherers misrepresented a ballot initiative.

“You have a right to lie under the First Amendment,” she said. “I do not have authority to take any enforcement action over the truth of what is being said.”

Funding for the effort came from an out-of-state source. Smart Approach to Marijuana Action Inc., a dark money group from Virginia, was the only donor listed on organizers’ campaign finance reports last month, contributing $2 million.