WSLCB - Board Caucus
(July 10, 2018)

Here are some observations from the July 13th WSLCB Board Caucus meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

• The Board discussed the strong reaction to the hidden ownership amnesty program proposal (transcript, audio).
  • The discussion of a proposed hidden ownership amnesty program at the June 27th WSLCB Executive Management Team meeting (transcript, audio) provoked a response from licensees concerned that the program as proposed would reward actors who engaged in illegal marketplace activity. The Board doesn’t like the term “amnesty” and may attempt to address expressed concerns by changing the Board’s authority to more generally perform “hands on review” during litigation.
• The Board wants to learn from the medical cannabis community to inform the medical cannabis delivery study & consider medical cannabis reforms (transcript, audio).
  • The Cannabis Alliance extended an offer to introduce WSLCB staff to Alliance members in the medical cannabis community.  The Board appeared enthusiastic about the opportunity:
    • Member Russ Hauge: “…I think that’s a great idea because you know, that’s not something I have any sensitivity to, and I’ve gotta develop it, so.”
    • Chair Jane Rushford: “…I’m in as well. I want to be more knowledgeable about what we can do, and then figure out how we do it.”
    • Member Ollie Garrett: “I learned a lot when I went to my first meeting, one of [The Cannabis Alliance] meetings, and that was when things were still, like the, some of the wounds were fresh on a lot of stuff that had occurred. And it was the people coming in the 502 that, that was the medical folks, that was now not able to get into the industry, but had so much knowledge of marijuana… And just listening to them talk, it’s when it was started hitting me that this is really an industry. This is not just selling weed. It’s just, because they knew marijuana, what you need for what pain, what’s hurting you, different strands.”
• Eastern Washington Board Meeting pushed to January (transcript, audio).
  • Scheduling conflicts have prevented the Board from arranging a Board Meeting in eastern Washington until January 2019.

Follow Up (August 8, 2018)

The National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators (NAPC) hosted their Summer Conference in Spokane (July 12, 2018).  During this Board Caucus (July 10, 2018), WSLCB Board Member Hauge mentioned he would be formally presenting on behalf of the WSLCB.  Here are responsive documents obtained via public record requests.

• Agenda: Legal & Practical Enforcement Issues in the Medical and Recreational Marijuana Industry (DOCX)
• Slidedeck: “Cannabis Legalization: Implementing the world’s first system of legally growing, processing and retailing cannabis.” (July 2018: PowerPoint)