The following editorial is from the opinion page of The Republican newspaper in Springfield. It reflects views of the newspaper’s leadership and not necessarily those of MassLive. Readers are invited to share their opinions by emailing to letters@repub.com.

Fixing problems associated with recreational marijuana use in Massachusetts would be sensible. Dismantling a billion-dollar industry? Ludicrous.

Some Massachusetts residents are pushing the absurd option, looking to end recreational adult use marijuana by asking voters to support a November 2026 statewide referendum.

The initiative appears to be on track to get enough voter signatures to appear on next year’s ballot. Support of the measure would outlaw recreational use of marijuana. If passed, the law would leave all the retailers selling marijuana an avenue to obtain a license to sell medical marijuana instead.

Wendy Wakeman, the spokesperson for the ballot initiative, contends that the rollout of recreational marijuana sales that began in November 2018 was done poorly and “just hasn’t worked for people.”

Well, it has worked for plenty of people Wakeman apparently does not know. Recreational marijuana sales have totaled more than $8 billion in the seven years it has been legal in Massachusetts.

According to the state’s Cannabis Control Commission, recreational marijuana sales will exceed $1.6 billion this year. That will be a record. People are already voting and they’re doing it with wallets in hand at local dispensaries.

In one poll last year, 65% of Massachusetts voters said they approved of the recreational marijuana law that passed in 2016. That would be considered a landslide of support if it elected someone to office and it builds on the 53.7%-46.3% approval margin of Question 4 in 2016.

Still, some people say problems remain with regulating THC levels in marijuana gummies. Also, they say some products appear to be targeted at children.

If so, the solution is better regulation, not prohibition. It would be folly to eliminate a booming industry and pretend that a lot of people in Massachusetts do not use marijuana products.

The CCC maintains regulations that deal with potency limits for marijuana products. A single package of edibles cannot contain more than 110 milligrams of active THC. That THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis, must also be “evenly distributed” throughout the edible,” according to the regulations.

It’s true the Cannabis Control Commission has made missteps. Last year, the Massachusetts treasurer, Deb Goldberg, fired Shannon O’Brien, the executive director of the CCC. But this fall, a judge ruled the firing illegal. The fuss impacted the commission’s functioning.

It would be nonsense to dismantle an industry that has done nothing but grow in the last seven years, especially at a time when other sectors in the state’s economy are slowing.

Let’s fix the problems with the CCC and any issues with regulating the THC in marijuana products. Prohibition makes no sense, as we think voters will demonstrate next year.