WSLCB - Executive Management Team
(November 9, 2022)

Here are some observations from the Wednesday November 9th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting.

My top 5 takeaways:

• Outbound Director of Legislative Relations Chris Thompson introduced his successor Marc Webster before touching on agency request legislation, a briefing scheduled for lawmakers, and why he viewed the 2022 midterms as a "status quo" election for the Washington State Legislature.
  • Thompson described how he’d “already spent some good quality time together” with Webster, joking that he’d “buried Marc in some materials for light reading.” They’d talked about “what’s in play,” recent legislative sessions, and “ how our legislative program is set up,” Thompson said (audio - 2m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Webster joined the agency with what Thompson called “a very strong background at OFM [Washington State Office of Financial Management] in the budget and from the higher ed[ucation] world” through prior work as Senior Fiscal Policy Advisor for the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC). The new role would be “the second time Marc’s taking a job that I used to have,” mentioned Thompson, relaying that Webster had already worked as “legislative director [at WSAC] and as finance director - and higher ed finance is really complicated.”
      • Webster started working with legislative staff at the Washington State Council for Higher Education, reorganized by a 2012 law as WSAC. According to state employee salary data, his title at WSAC as of 2021 was Director of External Affairs.
    • Greeting the board, Webster said “it's an honor to be here. And I can't wait to get started” (audio - <1m, WSLCB video, TVW video). Board Chair David Postman was “excited to be able to have you guys cross over a little bit and do some downloading” ahead of the 2023 legislative session (audio - <1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
  • Thompson indicated that “there isn't a lot of new news that emerged since our last meeting of the EMT and my report then” as draft request legislation still awaited approval by WA OFM and the governor’s staff. He guessed it would be “probably at least a week, possibly two weeks…or longer” before staff knew if they could move ahead and seek legislative sponsors. Thompson brought up that staff for the governor were “seeking more information about certain stakeholder perspectives.” He’d discussed request bill topics and the process to move them forward if approved, but “we're mostly waiting and responding as questions come in about each of those proposals” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
  • A December 2nd Washington State House Commerce and Gaming Committee (WA House COG) work session had been scheduled for an "Update on Cannabinoid Product Regulation and Enforcement and Summary of Research on High-THC Concentration Cannabis." Thompson said WSLCB staff already “got marching orders for colleagues to put together information.” Along with the agency, Thompson noted that the Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA) Executive Director Gillian Schauer would present “because one of the topics the committee asked us to address…is at the national level and in other states” (audio - 3m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Thompson pointed to unpassed request legislation on cannabinoid regulation in 2022, and said that committee members “wanted to step back a little bit and take another look at this issue and help members get more up to speed.” He promised to “help inform them about” the existing authority for WSLCB, what was being done “on the enforcement front,” along with the status of “hemp derived cannabinoids out on the open market.” Thompson also mentioned that lawmakers were interested in the settlement with licensed processor Unicorn Brands LLC regarding the company’s past creation of synthesized compounds, saying the issue of hemp derived cannabinoids and delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8-THC) had come up in “a lot of discussions.” Their 2023 request legislation would be broadly described, he reported, “and perhaps if we have a decision by then, we'll be able to share all the details…the text of the bill and all that” with members.
    • He added that a panel from the University of Washington Addictions, Drug, and Alcohol Institute (UW ADAI) would present as well, and “Dr. Bia Carlini will be talking about cannabis products, and concentration levels, and some of the concerns from a health perspective around that.”
      • Carlini, a UW ADAI Research Scientist in charge of the Cannabis Education and Research Program (CERP), was also the Program Chair for a September 16th symposium on high concentration products hosted by the institute.
      • Learn more about UW ADAI work spearheading research towards a draft report on potential high concentration product policies that included recommendations for elected officials ahead of the 2023 legislative session.
  • Turning to the 2022 midterm elections, Thompson talked about how results were showing “a pretty status quo picture, I would say most incumbents seem to be doing quite well.” Democrats were “running very competitively,” he told board members, and the party “did pretty well, status quo, or maybe a little better” when it came to the legislative results. Thompson brought up that WA House COG was “losing its ranking member,” Representative Drew MacEwen, who’d been elected to the Washington State Senate (WA Senate). Additionally, Vice Chair Emily Wicks and Representative Steve Kirby wouldn’t be in the legislature in 2023, he noted, leading to “a high level tier of positions on our policy issues in the house” open to new members. Thompson expected there to be a “legislative reorg[anization] in early December before we know more” (audio - 2m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Mentioning data they’d been briefed on by public health researchers, Postman suggested legislators interested in the “national picture” be given data from a Washington-specific report by the International Cannabis Policy Study (ICPS) because it was “one of the best pictures of actual usage, and shows, frankly, that we're doing pretty well when you compare [Washington] to other states.” Thompson responded that lawmakers had sounded more concerned about hemp derived cannabinoid products, but he had forwarded that information and “the chair in the house committee [Representative Shelley Kloba] responded to me and said ‘this is really great information.’” He was under the impression she “was looking into it” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Board Member Jim Vollendroff asked about the results of legalization ballot measures outside of Washington. Director of Communications Brian Smith informed them that voters had approved cannabis reforms in Maryland and Missouri, and rejected other initiatives in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Arkansas (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • On November 21st, the Washington State House Democratic Caucus announced leadership changes for the 2023-24 session. Representative Joe Fitzgibbon, a lead supporter of a 2019 law allowing vacating of misdemeanor cannabis offenses, was elected House Majority Leader.

• Board members next learned about progress on social equity mentorships, mapping disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs), education, online engagement with agency equity resources, and an upcoming presentation on the topic.
  • Director of Licensing Becky Smith began with the status of DIAs—mapping of which had delayed the opening of a licensing window for social equity applications—stating that the agency had entered into a contract with the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) “that does our mapping right now” whose staff had begun geocoding relevant conviction data (audio - 4m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • ESRI staff would “also be creating the interactive DIA maps,” which Smith said would let individuals “punch in their…zip code, or an address, and it'll populate to show whether or not those areas, was[sic] a DIA area from the…year that they lived in” a census tract.
    • Smith brought up Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer P.A. (QPWB), a law firm awarded an agency contract to design applications for the social equity program and participate in the vetting process. She felt the company was “moving right along,” having shared copies of the “process that they'll be using, all of the data that they'll be requiring” of applicants. Feedback from WSLCB officials to QPWB focused on “mostly language” differences “like true parties of interest, for instance.”
    • Smith said Make Green Go! had been retained by the Washington State Department of Commerce (WA Commerce) to assist on the mentor roster available to applicants and “make their videos” about the social equity technical assistance grants and mentoring programs. WSLCB Licensing had also recruited the company to create training content and the business’ representatives had provided “outlines for six videos” pertaining to:
      • “Social Equity program overview,
      • Social Equity application process,
      • How to submit an application, 
      • Cannabis laws and rules,
      • How to complete a social equity plan, 
      • Cannabis licensing overview.”
    • Make Green Go! would also participate in setting up “virtual events” along with some WSLCB-hosted “live events.” The goal was for the agency to “reach as many people in the population across Washington state as we can,” she commented.
    • Vollendroff wanted more information on who would be providing the mentoring for applicants. Smith replied that Sarah Davis, WSLCB Program Specialist for Social Equity, was “going through those currently.” She encouraged the board to look at available training and educational resources in addition to the Social Equity Technical Assistance webpage set up by WA Commerce, noting that more than “600 people have applied to view those” trainings (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
  • Smith explained that she’d shared the “most current map” of available equity license allotments with Mike Asai, Emerald City Collective Gardens (ECCG) Co-Founder and Black Excellence in Cannabis (BEC) Vice President, who had complained that accurate information wasn’t being given by agency leaders during the board meeting before the EMT. She assured the board that even if some counties or municipalities weren’t allowing cannabis businesses to be sited, rule changes by WSLCB on October 12th afforded equity businesses a single move to another jurisdiction within a county to “be able to get license[d] in.” Smith expected licensees would have to “go down to that jurisdiction and actually look into what that jurisdiction allows, what that city permits” but she encouraged public feedback on “information they’d like to see” (audio - 2m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Postman wondered how many of the allotted licenses could be “viable” following the rule change allowing one-time portability. Smith answered that “probably all but four” licenses could operate somewhere. Postman suggested a revised map showing any licenses still without jurisdictions in the county allowing them to operate, which would show “there's a lot more movement than there could have been before” (audio - 3m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
  • Director of Communications Brian Smith went over “analytics” of the agency website views, stating that for “social equity stuff…that was the 31st out of about 350 some pages that we have, which is about 1200 people, unique visitors visited that section of our website in October.” He found the “audience that is looking for that is not gigantic” compared to some pages that “tens of thousands of people will come to our site for,” but there was engagement with the page, and it was the most “up to date source of information” (audio - 8m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Director Rick Garza would be briefing the Washington State Association of Counties “coming up next week,” reported Smith. He was preparing Garza’s presentation with “a lot of new content” around social equity, and specifically DIA mapping. Smith also anticipated Garza would highlight revenue to local governments due to cannabis sales. 

• Medical cannabis endorsements held by licensed retailers were also discussed, as staff admitted they hadn’t been checking compliance with Washington State Department of Health (DOH) requirements for the businesses.
  • During her update, Director of Licensing Becky Smith called attention to medically endorsed retailers, saying her division’s staff had begun interviewing the “289 retailers right now” to validate compliance with the requirements of their endorsements. WSLCB staff asked about the “ability to enter qualified patient information” to the DOH database and asked questions such as “do you have at least one employee who holds an active medical cannabis consultant” certificate? Without elaborating on what they’d heard, she commented that endorsements could be returned to the agency “at no cost. It doesn't cost them anything to apply; it doesn't cost anything for us…to remove it from their license if they're unable to meet the needs” of patients. Smith explained her staff were not prepared to “go out and do all of these checks on these medical endorsements” at the moment, but were planning in person visits “probably yearly” with “our enforcement partners” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Endorsed stores were expected to follow WSLCB rules on their responsibilities and privileges around sales of medically compliant products.
  • Board Member Ollie Garrett brought up how they’d heard from some patients about a lack of available and appropriate medical cannabis products at the board meeting earlier in the day, adding, “years ago, we used to hear it consistently from the medical patient community.” She asked whether Smith’s team was hearing this message from patients (audio - 2m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Director of Policy and External Affairs Justin Nordhorn spoke up to add that “we keep hearing intermittently about” that concern, but he complimented the work of the Licensing Division, saying it could help patients understand where “product may be available.” He then relayed how a stakeholder “we engage with” had positive feedback on approved pesticide rules which took effect in September, stating that the stakeholder (“representing a number of patients”) had done “some independent testing. Over the last couple months the pesticide hygiene of [legal] concentrates seems to have improved dramatically over previous years.” Nordhorn was happy to hear successes from patients, mindful that “we still don't have that many producers producing these products” and availability challenges were real.
  • Communications Director Brian Smith later mentioned the agency Topics and Trends fall cannabis newsletter had included a “really nice piece called ‘Medical Cannabis: How Retailers, Budtenders, and Medical Cannabis Consultants Can Help Patients.’” He credited Nordhorn with taking on the issue proactively and getting information out, and Postman concurred.
    • In the same release, staff published a shorter notice talking about outreach on medical endorsements which noted, “If you no longer meet the requirements for a medical endorsement, please let us know so that we can remove you from the list of medically endorsed retail stores that patients rely upon. Retailers can email cannabisendorsement@lcb.wa.gov to discontinue or request a medical endorsement.”

• Director of Policy and External Affairs Justin Nordhorn went over the status of hosting virtual events, hiring for the tribal and government liaison job, and what was going on with work groups that had been organized by WSLCB (audio - 8m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
  • Drawing attention to the October 4th world café on cannabis canopy, Nordhorn said the event was “really successful” and staff were looking at what Microsoft Teams features might help staff execute the next event more effectively.
  • On the publication of a job listing for a Tribal and Government Liaison, Nordhorn commented, “hopefully we've got a nice wide net that we cast out there,” including a dedicated email about the position to tribal governments. He forecast job interviews would be scheduled for “mid-December” and expected to hire staff by January 2023.
  • Nordhorn credited Policy and Rules Manager Kathy Hoffman with standing up a Cannabinoid Science Work Group that had “a very neutral and objective scope to it.” Convening the group of internal and external stakeholders could offer a chance for WSLCB officials to “be proactive in conversations around some of the science behind cannabinoids,” he hoped. This could be “kinda tricky,” Nordhorn acknowledged, as there were “a lot of opinions…all across the board.” With “over 30” applicants, he informed the board “12 were confirmed right now” and others would be added to “review these discussions around available data, and research regulations of these cannabinoids.” Nordhorn mentioned that applicants weren’t just from Washington state, “but also from Poland and Israel.” At the moment, meetings of the work group had been set for “every other month” of 2023, he stated, and staff would consider “if that needs to be continued beyond that.”
    • The work group was scheduled to host its first meeting on Thursday December 1st.
  • Another work group around quality control standards was also being formed as part of “an evaluation of our pesticide rules,” Nordhorn remarked, and whether they had been “effective in reaching those particular goals that we were trying to reach.” Rather than having “a session for folks to come in and…complain about anything that had to do with implementation,” he was looking for “assessment of [whether] rules continue to make sense.”
    • Postman doubled down to emphasize “we are not going back…we're not undoing it” because the responsibility of the board was “to make sure that the cannabis being sold is safe - we're not going to have that fight again” (audio - 2m, WSLCB video, TVW video).

• The Cannabis Central Reporting System (CCRS) received a short mention by Deputy Director Toni Hood after an enforcement briefing reinforced how much Cannabis Examiner staff time was devoted to internal and external data queries.
  • Hood described attending a “[CCRS] steering committee meeting this morning” and had been “excited to hear that they're looking at rolling out their second phase in January” which would include fixes around cannabis manifests. She promised to follow up on problems mentioned that morning by OpenTHC CEO David Busby (audio - <1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Postman said he was curious about Busby’s statements on “no positive confirmation of data received” (audio - <1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • At publication time, it was Cannabis Observer’s understanding that third-party software integrators remained uninformed by WSLCB staff about the scope of changes, technical requirements, and timeline envisaged in the “second phase” of CCRS.
  • Director of Enforcement and Education Chandra Brady touched upon how staff had been “mak[ing] sure everybody's logged in, and now we've, we're moving to a place where we want to make sure people are entering the data.” She indicated staff had begun issuing notices to correct (NTC) to be “in compliance by a certain date” (audio - 11m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • She added that the Cannabis Examiners team had to offer both “support to licensees that have questions” while also getting “support to enforcement for investigations.” She noted the method for tracking staff time spent serving external or internal customers would be more precise in 2023.