WSLCB - Board Caucus
(December 5, 2023)

Here are some observations from the Tuesday December 5th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Board members were introduced to the recently hired Policy and Rules Coordinator Denise Laflamme, whose addition brought the Policy and Rules team back to full staffing for the first time in months.
  • Staffing vacancies had bedeviled WSLCB leaders throughout 2023, with the Policy and Rules office in particular delaying rulemaking activity due to a lack of personnel.
    • On January 11th, staff noted that the Enforcement and Education division was experiencing “staffing challenges” which was suspected to be partly due to “other law enforcement agencies competing for those officers.” 
    • Former Policy and Rules Manager Kathy Hoffman acknowledged on May 2nd that staffing problems were a factor in delaying a rulemaking petition on medical cannabis retail endorsements, as Coordinator Jeff Kildahl was on leave from the agency by this point.
      • Kildahl’s return to the agency was reported by staff on November 8th.
    • Other rulemaking was put on hold or withdrawn on June 5th, though staffing wasn’t directly mentioned. On September 13th, agency leaders noted that staffing delays were still an obstacle, but that some replacements had been hired, and officials would continue working to fill their available positions.
      • Hoffman transitioned to being Manager for a newly-created Research Unit, with Coordinator Cassidy West moving up to manage the Policy and Rules team by July 3rd. Hoffman subsequently left WSLCB for a post with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industry in October.
  • West introduced Laflamme and indicated she’d started in her role a few weeks earlier on November 16th, then asked that she say “a few words about what your background is, and why you're excited to be working at LCB with us?” (audio - <1m, Video - TVW)
  • Laflamme described her experience working at the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) until 2016, “mainly in their division of environmental health and then also as an epidemiolog[ist] in their division of health statistics.” She’d since worked in a consultancy firm, as Senior Scientist for PIONEER Technologies Corporation, giving her “a little background from that perspective also.” In all, “I'm just excited to be here and learn about all the very interesting policy issues that you guys have to deal with,” she said (audio - 1m, Video - TVW).
    • According to her LinkedIn profile, Laflamme held two masters degrees, both from the University of Washington School of Public Health, one in Toxicology, and another in Epidemiology which she earned during her time working at DOH. She appeared to have retired from PIONEER Technologies Corporation in 2020.
    • As a DOH staffer, Laflamme contributed to a 1999 Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) report on “Screening Survey for Metals and Dioxins in Fertilizer Products and Soils in Washington State.” In 2004, she was the lead author of “Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for exposure tracking: experiences from Washington State,” in which the abstract outlined lessons from BRFSS “case studies of modules covering drinking water, perceptions of environmental risk, and radon awareness and testing.” Laflamme was also one of the DOH authors of a DOE Children’s Safe Product Act Report in 2009.
    • Laflamme presented on behalf of DOH to the Collaborative for Health and Environment-Washington Partnership (CHE-WA) Children’s Environmental Health Working Group in 2010, and had been the DOH member of the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Federal-State Toxicology Risk Analysis Committee (FSTRAC).
  • Board Chair David Postman welcomed Laflamme, voicing appreciation for her DOH experience (audio - 1m, Video - TVW).

• Policy and Rules Manager Cassidy West provided an update and sought public feedback on a petition around extending cannabis Certificate of Analysis (COA) Expiration Dates from 12 to 18 months (audio - 1m, Video - TVW, Rulemaking Petition).
  • West said a presentation for the petition—first publicly acknowledged on November 7th after being submitted October 30th—was scheduled for December 20th. Kildahl would have a recommendation for the board, she indicated, and “we have not received any public comments.” She welcomed input via rules@lcb.wa.gov until December 15th.
  • Postman noted he was interested in the topic, expressing a hope “if people have thoughts about it” that they’d offer them, since “I think it's something that, that could be helpful to at least part of the industry” (audio - 1m, Video - TVW).

• West covered legislatively mandated and other rulemaking projects which may be advanced in the first several months of 2024.
  • SB 5367 Implementation (audio - 1m, Video - TVW, Rulemaking Project)
    • Approved by board members on June 21st, the project on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) regulations was last discussed on November 7th.
    • West said that “we'll be holding stakeholder engagement in December” and that announcements about events would be distributed “either later this week or early next week.” Sessions were going to be scheduled “on the 15th of December, and the second will be on the 19th,” with both having “the same information.” West continued, anticipating “we'll do a second round of stakeholder engagement probably in early January.”
  • SB 5080 Implementation (audio - <1m, Video - TVW, Rulemaking Project)
    • The CR-101 to begin the project of modifying and expanding the cannabis social equity program was approved by board members on November 8th.
    • West mentioned that stakeholder engagement events were being planned for January and February of 2024, with a CR-102 with proposed changes “on tack” for April.
  • Product Samples (audio - <1m, Video - TVW, Rulemaking Project)
    • Changes to vendor educational and quality control sample rules hadn’t been advanced since focus group discussions on October 6th and 11th, and West stated they were "on pause for a second" as staff responded to the COA petition. Staff were “looking at a [CR-]102 in January,” she said.
  • Retail Medical Cannabis Endorsements (audio - <1m, Video - TVW, Rulemaking Project)
    • The petition on endorsements was accepted on March 29th, but staff hadn’t sought a CR-101 to formally start rulemaking until October 25th.
    • West explained that Policy and Rules Coordinator Daniel Jacobs was on track to propose rules during a CR-102 presentation on the project in January 2024.