WSLCB - Board Caucus (March 12, 2024) - Summary
Board members reviewed actions of the 2024 legislative session, got the status of several rulemaking projects, and heard about a petition to renew harvest dates as required labeling.
Board members reviewed actions of the 2024 legislative session, got the status of several rulemaking projects, and heard about a petition to renew harvest dates as required labeling.
Senators made changes to data gathering requirements in a bill regulating “high THC” products before almost unanimously passing the measure and returning it to the House for concurrence.
Senators reduced by half the period of time registered patients would be exempted from a cannabis excise tax under HB 1453, but a large majority again supported the change.
Legislative and budget issues were top-of-mind for the board, but they also discussed an impending rulemaking project related to minors on the premises of producers and processors.
Senators decided the “high THC” bill was similar enough to a companion to skip a public hearing; all testimony on the bill to exempt patients from cannabis excise taxes was supportive.
Testimony on cannabis commission legislation showed an industry divided over benefits and costs, plus the committee recommended bills on cannabis waste and THC-based taxation.
Lawmakers heard bills on a tax exemption for registered medical patients and transferring lab accreditation, passing the former, then amended and recommended a THC bill without a public hearing.
A pattern of postponed or delayed rulemaking came into focus as staff once again offered revised timelines for projects and petitions going back to the summer of 2022.
Most lawmakers agreed to pass legislation to address risks associated with use of “high THC” products, with some disagreement around how urgent and restrictive solutions should be.
A bill from 2023 pertaining to uses of cannabis waste without THC was brought to the Senate floor and passed overwhelmingly following brief remarks from the sponsor.