WSLCB - Board Meeting
(June 8, 2022)

Here are some observations from the Wednesday June 8th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

• The board adopted modifications to rules for pesticide action levels for cannabis, largely to align with previously adopted quality control rules, after staff considered and rejected several public comments (audio - 2m, WSLCB Video, TVW video, Rulemaking Project).
  • Earlier, Policy and Rules Coordinator Jeff Kildahl provided a briefing on the CR-103 and the proposed changes to rule language during the June 7th board caucus.
  • Kildahl presented the rule package updating “chemical isomer information for several of the pesticides currently allowed for use in the production of cannabis.” He said it ensured “consistency with the recently adopted cannabis quality control (QC) testing rules, including removing language concerning the remediation of cannabis products that have failed quality control testing.” The package would also “remove redundant language from the rule section and replace the term ‘quality assurance testing’ with ‘quality control testing’ consistent with WAC 314-55-102,” explained Kildahl.
    • QC testing and product requirement rule revisions were passed on March 2nd, taking effect on April 2nd. At the time, Kildahl said that a new rule section would allow for “a transitional period during which post-harvest marijuana products” not in compliance with the new rules could be “sold, distributed, or both, within a reasonable period of time to be determined by the board.”
    • Additionally, WSLCB staff created a QC testing rule explainer for licensees. It didn’t mention a dedicated QC testing work group being created at the agency, though this was described in an announcement about the new rules.
  • “We received four separate public comments,” on their proposal, which Kildahl indicated appeared in the concise explanatory statement in the package’s notice of permanent rules. Comments were "carefully considered, however no changes were made to the rules" based on them. However, revisions were made to align with the HB 1210 rulemaking project, commented Kildahl. He affirmed that with board approval, changes to pesticide action level rules would take effect on July 8th.
    • Jim MacRae of Straight Line Analytics sent an email following the June 7th caucus taking issue with Kildahl’s characterization of MacRae’s written suggestions as outside the scope of the project. MacRae asked that the board reject the CR-103 pending more consideration of stakeholder input. Kildahl replied to MacRae the following day, stating that he had forwarded one recommendation on to staff at the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) but the “purpose of this rulemaking project as recorded on the CR 101 form is to update chemical information about some types of pesticides included in quality control testing (the isomer forms of several pesticides)...Because this project was not intended to evaluate any of the pesticide action levels themselves, there were no changes made to the [parts per million] PPM numbers in the rule for any of these pesticides.”
      • While pesticide action level quantities were not changed, the fundamental definition of pyrethrin was modified to remove the requirement that the chemical “be measured as the cumulative residues of pyrethrin 1, cinerin 1, and jasmolin 1.” The revised table listed pyrethrin I and pyrethrin II, a substantive change which may generate different testing results for producers utilizing the chrysanthemum-derived insecticides.
      • MacRae’s input leaned on April 2018 staff emails between WSDA, DOH, WSLCB, and former Washington SunGrowers Industry Association (WSIA) Executive Director Preston Peck about pesticide research and regulation in other states. That exchange highlighted pyrethrin, an ingredient in many pesticides, and then-WSDA Registration and Licensing Services Policy Assistant Erik Johansen created and shared a Comparison of pesticide action levels for marijuana spreadsheet. Johansen had publicly claimed that WSDA pesticide regulators “did not feel that the existing levels were protecting health.” MacRae noted during a July 2020 public hearing that Johansen was “removed from pesticide responsibilities and cannabis responsibilities within a week of making testimony to this body.”
      • Asked for comment in September 2021, Johansen told Cannabis Observer he stood by his original remarks "without any hesitation." As to the impact Johansen's comments had on his employment status, "I never received a written explanation as to why I was removed from all public or interagency activities regarding cannabis, and was not asked to discuss or explain my testimony prior to being reassigned." Following the reassignment, he stated that he arranged retirement from WSDA "as soon as I could."
  • Board Chair David Postman observed that “this was the ‘easier part of this whole project’” for Kildahl, but remained nonetheless grateful for the “ton of work” it had taken to complete both the QC and pesticide action level rule projects. He was “glad we’re getting this piece done as well” (audio - <1m, WSLCB Video, TVW video).
  • Board members voted to adopt the update to pesticide action levels (audio - 1m, WSLCB Video, TVW video).

• Board Chair David Postman explained that in-person “hybrid” public meetings would begin at WSLCB headquarters in Olympia starting with the June 14th board caucus (audio - 3m, WSLCB Video, TVW video)
  • Postman said board caucuses, board meetings, and Executive Management Team (EMT) meetings would become available both in-person and virtually. He considered remote accessibility to have been “super beneficial to stakeholders” who previously had to physically attend meetings in order to be heard.
  • Even if a meeting didn’t have “a board member there,” staff would always be available “on our public meeting days who can help you get in front of the camera to participate.” His hope was for a “seamless mix” of in-person and remote participation. Postman commented that the agency would continue to utilize Microsoft Teams and have meetings broadcast on TVW.
  • The last in-person board caucus was held in March 2020. Learn the latest masking guidance from the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).

• In public comments, citizens wanted increased diversity amongst cannabis licensees, but also pointed to discord between some cannabis trade associations, activists, and the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF). 
  • Peter Manning, Black Excellence in Cannabis (BEC) member (audio - 3m, WSLCB Video, TVW video)
    • Manning last addressed the board on April 13th.
    • Manning spoke to any alleged association between BEC “and Christopher King. There is none.” He claimed King had used past “soundbites” and “internet chat…to try to give the illusion that there’s some association between our organization and his. We are not on that level with this guy.” Manning made clear BEC members had a different “approach” and were trying to help “the movement of getting Black and Brown people included in the cannabis industry in the state of Washington.”
    • Feeling that communities of color were “in this position…not just because of the board,” Manning pointed to cannabis trade groups. “Namely,” he alleged the Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) had “pushed out a lot of different…legislation that would prevent Black and Brown people from being part of the cannabis industry.” He felt this claim was “not known, but it should be known.”
    • Turning to the pending social equity program at WSLCB, Manning said BEC members looked forward to “working with you guys to make this happen for us” and mentioned Governor Jay Inslee’s commitment to “new board members” and “a positive direction.”
    • In 2020, Manning and BEC Founder Aaron Barfield filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, and the WSLCB, alleging they were administrating “an unconstitutional and unlawful system of Marijuana regulation and licensing.” 
  • Mike Asai, Emerald City Collective Gardens (ECCG) Co-Founder (audio - 5m, WSLCB Video, TVW video) 
    • Asai read an excerpt from Inslee’s Executive Order 22-02, Achieving Equity in Washington State Government, wherein the governor asserted, “I recognize the traumatic and long-lasting impacts of discrimination, racism, and oppression. I also recognize that Washington state government has the responsibility and the ability to make a difference for all of us—employees, the people served, and current and future generations of Washingtonians. This order, alone, will not create equity in our state, but this is a necessary next step.” He related this sentiment “to the social equity and what's going on right now,” as African Americans had borne “the brunt of the War on Drugs.” He asked that the board agree that, “being Black and Brown, you should be at the top of the list” to receive a social equity license. Asai remarked that “in all the task force meetings” it had been discussed that “Blacks and Brown, the numbers are there” to justify prioritization in licensing. 
    • Finding that WA SECTF had “been manipulated" in several ways, Asai alleged that recommendations of the full task force had been “purposely delayed” which in turn delayed WSLCB officials from initiating the application process. This negatively impacted medical cannabis patients and the “BIPOC community,” he argued.
      • Policy and Rules staff attributed a continued pause in the social equity rulemaking project on June 7th to a desire for "additional research and analysis" following the withdrawal of proposed rules on May 11th.
    • Asai believed the board was “trying to do the right thing” and none of the members had been on the board when cannabis legalization was approved by voters in 2012, or when SB 5052 merged the medical and adult-use markets in 2015. He clarified to the public that “these are not the board members who locked us out.” Moreover, Asai disagreed with combative tactics and claims previously leveled against Board Member Ollie Garrett, whom he said “walked with Dr. Martin Luther King [Jr.] as a little girl.” He concluded with words he attributed to Malcolm X: “We’ve all been oppressed, we gotta put everything down and come together for one common goal.”
      • Garrett described the experience of marching with Dr. King at the first WA SECTF meeting in October 2020.
  • Christopher King (audio - 4m, WSLCB Video, TVW video) 
    • King responded to Manning’s assertions, saying the soundbites at issue were “from [Manning’s] living room” where King and others met “a number of times to work on cases.” He asserted that he’d been “single handedly responsible for getting two wrongful prosecution cases of the LCB dismissed,” naming Levi Lyon of LyonPride Music and “budtender Cynjo Raylene Hall.” King said the “fact” was that Manning only had “beef” with him once King “exposed the whole thing with NateGate.” He continued by saying he’d “never attacked Ollie Garrett" and that he and Postman were “fourth estate brothers” owing to their shared work history in journalism, hoping Postman would understand King’s seeking public information “I’m entitled to.”
    • King remarked there was a “certified mail envelope that Kevin Shelton sent out” in 2020. He said Shelton—the former LifeTree Collective Garden Owner—-had “declarations he’s filed in federal court” about favorable treatment for Chris Bennett and Nate Miles, acquaintances of Garrett’s. Having raised the topic of materials mailed to Garrett on May 11th, King followed up to say he’d received no information about how such correspondence was handled.
    • He’d also been seeking more information on “how Emerald Haze got their license” and wouldn’t “tolerate anybody trying to say that’s an attack because it’s not, it’s a request for information.”
      • Aaron Barfield, BEC founder, discussed his involvement in support of licensing for Emerald Haze with WSLCB officials in October 2019.
    • Turning to the 2015 law merging the adult-use and medical markets, King stated that it had “placed an affirmative, nondelegable duty” on the agency for a “fair, merit-based” application process for licensing - which he felt “still hasn’t happened.” Hoping for responses to his prior questions and requests, he noted that Garrett was also “associated” with former WA SECTF Co-Chair Paula Sardinas, whom he claimed called him “a disbarred attorney” and “dangerous.” King added that when he told Sardinas he “drafted [a] lawsuit for defamation” about her accusations, she’d contacted former dispensary owner Sami Saad “to get him away from us.”