WSLCB - Executive Management Team
(September 11, 2024)

Wednesday September 11, 2024 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM Observed
WSLCB Enforcement Logo

The three-member board of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) and agency leadership meet weekly as the Executive Management Team to facilitate coordination between the appointed Board and staff.

Observations

Agency leaders would brief lawmakers on topics like traceability, changes may be offered for social equity and THC rulemaking projects, plus public health outreach and media interest in cannabis labs.

Here are some observations from the Wednesday September 11th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Executive Management Team (EMT) public meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

  • Officials acknowledged rulemaking changes were being considered related to SB 5080 and the social equity program as well as THC regulations in SB 5367, more equity licensing was being finalized, plus WSLCB representatives would continue engaging on public health matters.
    • Nordhorn mentioned a legislative report “due on biased-based language…we are looking at finalizing that this week so we can submit it over for review.” He then discussed rulemaking for two cannabis legislation implementations (audio - 1mvideo - TVW).
      • SB 5367 Implementation (audio - 1m, video - TVW, Rulemaking Project)
        • Postman was curious if a list of cannabinoid compounds which would be considered THC content under revised rules was feasible. Nordhorn agreed there was "some potential opportunities to examine" creating such a list, but was reluctant, since “by creating lists, we're typically stuck with lists…whereas if we were able to identify it in a different way, and…we would create an agency publication so it's very transparent and visible, but not necessarily built in the rule.” Keeping flexibility in adding or removing compounds was of keen interest to staff, he said, “because of the technical nature of the draft…we intentionally created that language around tetrahydrocannabinol, not THC, so anything that just has a tag of THC isn't necessarily going to be brought into that mix.” Nordhorn continued, stating that “the allowance approach becomes burdensome with additional rule changes in the future [but if] we do that through some other avenue, other than the rule, then we wouldn't have a substantive change, and we can move forward with the [CR-]103” (audio - 4mvideo - TVW).
          • Using a similar approach of referencing external documents from within agency administrative code, on June 18th Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) staff adopted rules codified in WAC 16-309-160 covering cannabinoid concentration analysis. Section (2) indicated labs must “use a method approved by the department to analyze cannabinoids.”
          • The WSDA Cannabis Lab Analysis Program had previously published method standard documents on their website, and stated certified labs “must use a method approved by the WSDA. You can use one of the pre-approved methods listed below, or submit your own.”
      • SB 5080 Implementation (audio - 1m, video - TVW, Rulemaking Project)
        • Nordhorn relayed that staff would be contemplating changes following the critical testimony their proposal had garnered earlier that day.
        • Postman wanted to know what the “threshold there for…substantive change requires.” After staff discussed it would they “bring proposals to the board for supplemental? Does the board tell you if we heard something that we think is worthy of supplemental?” Nordhorn replied that “all of the above” was appropriate. They still had to review written comments and testimony to see if they saw a way to improve the rule draft, but “I think I can confidently say [a CR-103 planned for September 25th was] not going to happen.” Should there be a substantive revision, Nordhorn was clear that the CR-102 stage would start over with another board vote on new language along with another public comment period and hearing scheduled. He felt there was likely to be both a policy and legal review of any changes “over the next couple of weeks” (audio - 3mvideo - TVW).
    • Director of Licensing Becky Smith brought up the request for proposals for a vendor to score the next round of social equity applications in a future licensing window, indicating, “we are finished with our request.” She told the board to expect public confirmation of the apparently successful vendor ”in the coming days.” Some applications were progressing towards licensure, added Smith, noting four had been issued and five applicants had secured locations for their store (audio - 1m, video - TVW).
      • Postman wanted to know when the applicants with locations would be issued licenses and Smith answered “most of them, it appears, will be done by…December at the latest” (audio - 1mvideo - TVW).
    • Nordhorn made a brief mention that the Research Program had “been completing a lot of research briefs.” A process of prioritization was also paramount, “we really have to look at what that resource implication is before we dig in too far on all of the requests, because we are getting a lot, which is great” (audio - 1mvideo - TVW).
    • Moving to public health interests, Nordhorn remarked, “we did some hybrid THC work groups this last month” starting in June and would be “launching an internal discussion group for policy in a couple weeks.” The focus would be on brainstorming rather than setting policy, and the internal group would be looking at alcohol product placement in stores as well as cannabis topics (audio - 3mvideo - TVW).
      • Besides focus groups on high THC products on June 26th and July 10th, the agency hosted four additional focus groups on the subject between June and August for public health and substance prevention interests. The only insight provided into these events has been as a result of public records requests by Cannabis Observer.
      • Public Health Education Liaison Kristen Haley and Research Manager Sarah Okey were scheduled to moderate panels at the Thursday September 19th University of Washington Addictions, Drug, and Alcohol Institute (UW ADAI) symposium titled, “Cannabis, Schizophrenia, and Other Psychotic Disorders: Moving Away from Reefer Madness Toward Science.”
      • Nordhorn mentioned WSLCB conversations with the Washington Health Youth (WHY) Coalition, “particularly around the THC rule development, trying to clarify some of the questions” on the “highly technical rule set.”
        • The WHY Coalition Cannabinoid Work Group submitted written comments in early February regarding the SB 5367 Implementation rulemaking project.
          • While the Coalition name emphasizes a focus on "youth" under the age of 18, their scope remains inclusive of "young adults" through age 25 and a leading focus is "Promoting changes in industry policy and practices by intentionally using data to inform strategies and tactics."
        • Haley Co-Chairs the WHY Coalition along with WA HCA Cannabis Policy and Project Manager Harrison Fontaine - who would also be co-moderating a panel at the UW ADAI symposium.
      • Nordhorn noted that Haley had also participated in a panel for the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) with Arnaud Simon, Public Health and Consumer Protection Policy Analyst, “her counterpart down there to discuss the role of public health liaisons at these state agencies, because we're one of the very, very few in the nation that does this and prioritizes that work, and so trying to spread the word on…what are the benefits of these types of programs.” Nordhorn indicated the comments were well received.
  • Director of Communications Brian Smith discussed increased media interest related to cannabis testing labs (audio - 7m, video - TVW).
    • Smith had first noticed media inquiries around testing results when “the Wall Street Journal…did a deep dive into lab results, and we never quite got to the bottom what they were looking for, but they did ask us to review some of the data that they found, and…our chemist and enforcement folks, took a look at it and it didn't quite match up to some of the inferences that they were pulling from that.”
    • He wasn’t sure of the connections, but there were also several “questions from the LA Times about our lab practices, and specifically one incident from 2019 and a chemical that we had found in a pesticide test that had turned up, and…in LA, there's one lab that's suing 13 other labs in the news…driving a lot of this.” Smith explained how he and Director of Enforcement and Education Chandra Wax were interviewed by a reporter for the Times “to explain our role with the Washington State Department of Agriculture and how they test for us with investigations, as well as the random testing aspect, which I don't think they have in California, which they thought was significant.”
      • The LA Times published an article on June 16th asking, “How dirty is your weed? A joint investigation finds high levels of pesticides in products.”
    • On September 6th, Chemical and Engineering News published a cover story about laboratory shopping with the following brief: “Laboratories licensed to test cannabis in markets regulated by US states claim that they’re losing customers to competitors willing to provide favorable results. The ‘lab shopping’ problem began with labs inflating levels of THCa, the acid form of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), in cannabis flower. But labs say they have evidence suggesting that some competitors are also overlooking mold and pesticides, thus allowing contaminated products to reach consumers. Regulators in some states are addressing fraudulent test results better than those in others. A handful of states are opening reference labs to help with investigations, but most facilities are slow to get up and running. Labs that play by the rules are tired of waiting for regulators to address what they say is a public health issue.”

Information Set

Segment - 01 - Welcome - David Postman (13s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 02 - Update - Enforcement and Education - Chandra Wax (17m 27s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 03 - Update - Enforcement and Education - Question - Youth Access - Jim Vollendroff (2m 19s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 04 - Update - Enforcement and Education - Question - Youth ID Checks - Jim Vollendroff (1m 33s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 05 - Update - Enforcement and Education - Question - Consequences - David Postman (2m 38s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 06 - Update - Legislative Affairs - Marc Webster (3m 15s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 07 - Update - Legislative Affairs - Question - WA House RSG Work Session - David Postman (28s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 08 - Update - Licensing - Becky Smith (3m 6s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 09 - Update - Licensing - Question - Customer Satisfaction Survey Response - David Postman (41s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 10 - Update - Licensing - Question - Customers - Jim Vollendroff (26s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 11 - Update - Licensing - Becky Smith (2m 46s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 12 - Update - Licensing - Social Equity Program - Becky Smith (1m 7s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 13 - Update - Licensing - Social Equity Program - Question - Applicant Status - David Postman (38s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 14 - Update - Communications - Brian Smith (7m 1s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 15 - Update - Policy and External Affairs - Justin Nordhorn (21s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 16 - Update - Policy and External Affairs - Tribal Affairs - Justin Nordhorn (26s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 17 - Update - Policy and External Affairs - Research Program - Justin Nordhorn (40s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 18 - Update - Policy and External Affairs - Public Health - Justin Nordhorn (2m 59s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 19 - Update - Policy and External Affairs - Rulemaking - Justin Nordhorn (40s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 20 - Update - Policy and External Affairs - Rulemaking - Question - SB 5080 Implementation - David Postman (3m 24s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 21 - Update - Policy and External Affairs - Rulemaking - Question - SB 5367 Implementation - David Postman (3m 36s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 22 - Update - Agency - Toni Hood (9m) InfoSet ]
Segment - 23 - Update - Agency - Traceability - Toni Hood (1m 6s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 24 - Update - Director - William Lukela (1m 4s) InfoSet ]
Segment - 25 - Wrapping Up - David Postman (17s) InfoSet ]

Engagement Options

In-Person

1025 Union Ave SE, Olympia, WA 98501, USA

Boardroom

Phone

Number: 1.564.999.2000
Conference ID: 403 479 255#

Information Set