WSLCB - Board Caucus
(October 11, 2022)

Here are some observations from the Tuesday October 11th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Policy and Rules Manager Kathy Hoffman went over open rulemaking projects impacting cannabis regulations along with changes to agency contact information in the Washington Administrative Code (WAC).
  • The most recent coverage of WSLCB rulemaking updates was on September 14th.
  • Canopy (audio - 2m, video, Rulemaking Project)
    • The project was opened by the board on August 31st.
    • Hoffman told the board that agency staff had hosted “our first world café session” on the project on October 4th. She said the conversation was oriented around a trio of questions posed by staff:
      • “How should we treat floor space that isn't in production?”
      • “How might we update the tier system?”
      • “And how should we measure canopy?”
    • Hoffman expressed surprise that “we had far more attendees than we anticipated…around 90 people,” not including “the team that was running the meeting.” With “approximately 18 people” in each of five breakout rooms within the event, she felt that arrangement “isn't ideal for world café…if we were live we might have done it a little differently.” Hoffman suggested “we might try to use our registration model so that we can assign rooms ahead of time and…gauge for how many people will be in attendance.”
    • Policy and Rules Coordinator Jeff Kildahl woud “distill the information” and look for themes for a future session, she stated, as “we do believe there will be need for an additional session on November 16th.”
  • Advertising (audio - <1m, video, Rulemaking Project)
    • According to Hoffman, “internal discussions continue” on the project as agency staff interviewed candidates to replace Policy and Rules Coordinator Robert DeSpain. The rulemaking effort, which was also begun on August 31st, would be on “temporary pause,” creating an “approximately a six to eight week delay on that, maybe less,” she commented. 
  • Social Equity (audio - <1m, video, Rulemaking Project)
    • A public hearing on the CR-102 proposed rules was hosted by WSLCB staff on September 14th.
    • Hoffman said she’d ask for members to adopt a CR-103 containing final rules at the Wednesday October 12th board meeting.
    • Board Chair David Postman requested that for any “even minor change we should discuss tomorrow at the board meeting and have a chance to go over that” or answer board questions in a public setting. Hoffman said there were “non-substantive changes” that didn’t alter the rule’s scope or effect, like moving from the word ‘marijuana’ to ‘cannabis’ and adding ‘maximum’ to the description of the “total point calculation in the scoring rubric,” in order to “clarify or…correct typographical errors.” She indicated that she’d try to “answer that as best I can” at the board meeting (audio - 3m, video). 
  • Contact Information (audio - 1m, video, Rulemaking Project)
    • Bringing up the expedited rulemaking pertaining to agency contact information listed in rule, Hoffman reported the CR-103 to adopt the change had been delayed and “at this point it's going to be the November 9th board meeting.” There had been no comments submitted and Hoffman planned to accept written remarks until November 3rd.
      • Hoffman previously anticipated presenting a CR-103 on October 26th.

• Hoffman acknowledged the view of staff that revisions to cannabis product sample rules were needed, a petition on retail collection of consumer data had been received, and confirmed a second issue-specific work group would be set up by agency officials.
  • Product Samples (audio - 1m, video).
    • Hoffman forecast a CR-101 would be put forward by Kildahl “next month” (“likely the November 9th board meeting”) on cannabis product samples, one of the petitions accepted by the board on August 31st. Acknowledging that “canopy is a very large and complex project,” she conveyed the impression of officials that “existing sampling rules have been a concern for many for some time and we'd like to begin that before the end of the year.”
      • “Sampling” in this context refers to “Vendor, educational, and internal quality control samples” as defined in WAC 314-55-096.
      • The self-selection of cannabis samples by producers and processors for mandatory quality control testing had also been a concern for many for some time, but would not be addressed in the scope of the anticipated rulemaking project.
  • Consumer Data Collection (audio - 1m, video, Petition) 
    • On September 29th, John Kingsbury, chair of the Patient Caucus of the Cannabis Alliance, submitted a petition asking that retail store staff be required to “secure affirmative consent from consumers before scanning their IDs,” said Hoffman. She mentioned that could entail “additional signage [indicating] that a store might scan for IDs.” She added that Kildahl would be preparing the staff recommendation for the petition, which could take up to 60 days from the date of submission.
      • The petition itself seems less concerned with the practice of using scanners to more reliably verify the age of customers and more concerned with the practice of subsequently storing and using that information for marketing or any other purposes without providing a means of opting out.
  • Cannabinoid Science Work Group (audio - 1m, video) 
    • After a call for work group members was distributed by agency officials the previous week, Hoffman remarked she was “really happy to share that we've received over 20 complete applications for that from people, not only throughout the United States, but in other countries as well.” She relayed that applicants included “research scientists, people in health professions...chemists" and the “application window [would close] on October 24th.”
      • The group would “collaboratively and transparently explore and build foundational understanding of the ‘. . .plant of the genera Cannabis, as well as synthetic equivalents of the substances contained in the plant’ (see RCW 69.50.204(c)(30)).”
      • Uncharacteristically, a draft charter was included to formalize the group’s scope and purpose.
  • Quality Control Work Group (audio - 1m, video) 
    • A second work group would be dedicated to evaluating the implementation of quality control rules, explained Hoffman, after first being suggested when the board “adopted…new rules for cannabis quality control” on March 2nd. Kildahl would begin recruiting for the group after membership for the cannabinoid science group was finalized, she stated.
    • Hoffman explained the mission of the group would be to “talk about the effectiveness of the newly adopted cannabis quality control rules and see if there's any adjustments we need to make in the future.”

• Board Chair David Postman expressed his satisfaction that stakeholders were engaging with WSLCB rulemaking processes and bid farewell to another member of Hoffman’s team (audio - 2m, video).
  • Viewing world café attendance and work group applications “as a really good sign,” Postman thought this was “a validation of the work that the staff does which [made] people want to come and be a part of those conversations.” He did “worry the day when no one shows,” since the board could lose insight. The public engagement on canopy had already encouraged “many discussions” among WSLCB leadership, he added.
  • Postman gave his “thanks to Robert DeSpain” who had “always approache[d] these things with a little bit of humor…and some great insights.” He wished DeSpain “good luck in the next steps, but I have no doubt you're gonna find a way to hone those legal skills.”
    • DeSpain worked as a coordinator on alcohol rulemaking before moving to the cannabis team on a temporary basis in April.
    • Former alcohol Policy and Rules Coordinator Audrey Vasek left the agency in late September to accept a position as counsel with the Office of Program Research for the House of Representatives.
    • At publication time, listings for two Regulatory Analyst 3 positions remained posted, but agency staff ceased advertising for the roles as of their October 10th “WSLCB JOB OPPORTUNITIES” email.