WSLCB - Board Caucus
(July 18, 2023)

Here are some observations from the Tuesday July 18th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Cassidy West was promoted to Policy and Rules Manager for WSLCB after less than a year with the team - and inherited a backlog of rulemaking projects.
  • Research Manager Kathy Hoffman, who moved over to that role after serving as the Policy and Rules Manager since early 2019, gave her final covered rulemaking update on July 3rd. She promised to support West’s workload until the Policy and Rules team could be fully staffed with a three-person coordinator team as outlined in the Manager role.
    • At time of publication, Policy and Rules Coordinators Daniel Jacobs and Jeff Kildahl served as the staff supporting the Policy and Rules office, although Kildahl’s last public presence was on March 1st. 
  • West joined WSLCB from the private sector in December 2022, the first hire by the agency of a staffer with preexisting work in the legal cannabis industry in Colorado. Since coming to WSLCB, West worked on several petition and rulemaking efforts, though she’d begun to lead on more projects by the time Hoffman’s move was announced on May 2nd. Hoffman had recognized the considerable rulemaking workload and some projects had been placed on hold, such as the Advertising rulemaking project, or withdrawn in favor of a future policy statement, like the Cloud Storage rulemaking project.

• Cannabinoid regulatory bill SB 5367 continued to be implemented with a public comment period on the CR-101 until the following month (audio - 1m, Video - TVW, Rulemaking Project)
  • SB 5367 expanded the scope of what was considered a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) product was approved on May 9th, and WSLCB initiated the rulemaking project on June 21st.
    • On Friday July 14th, Enforcement and Education officials released a "New Guide: Regulations of Products Containing THC," with regulations for sales of products containing THC by businesses that do not hold agency-issued cannabis licenses, which included restrictions on products containing cannabidiol (CBD) and other cannabinoids.
  • West told board members SB 5367 implementation remained “on track, and I'm planning on bringing the CR-102 to the board in late October, or early November.” A public hearing would then be “held in early December” and, absent delays, final approval would be “filed in January 2024,” she said. West added the public comment period on the CR-101 would remain open until 11:59pm on August 7th.

• A survey to gather feedback on cannabis product samples had gone out and would be considered in the rulemaking effort (audio - <1m, Video - TVW, Rulemaking Project)
  • Accepted as a petition from leaders of the Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) in August 2022, the opening of the rulemaking project was delayed until March 1st. A memorandum on the project conveyed an effort to “amend WAC 314-55-096, concerning vendor, educational and internal quality control samples, in an effort to update and streamline requirements.”
    • WSLCB staff hosted a focus group on the topic on March 23rd which Cannabis Observer was asked not to record, and so we didn’t observe it.
  • West pointed to the release of a survey that day, stating it would remain available “until July 30th, at 11:59 pm.”
  • Surveys about rules for product samples given to retailers for deciding what items to stock were developed after staff had questions following a formal public comment period, with separate surveys for licensed cannabis processors, producers, and retailers.