USA - Washington

The Governor was scheduled to take action on two cannabis bills, including the social equity program expansion, while other bodies convened to consider regular session outcomes.

Researchers ran through various efforts to regulate cannabis concentrates which had been supported by some stakeholders before taking questions on how to influence legislators and the public.

An update on the 2023 legislative session hinted at a potential special session to revise a Blake bill on drug use and treatment, then staff discussed input on the medical cannabis system.

The council heard that even after modifications to traffic fatality data involving drug testing results the narrative on the increasing prevalence of poly-drug incidences remained unchanged.

The Washington State Legislature adjourned sine die on Sunday, but failed to pass “a Blake fix bill” which would likely prompt the calling of a 30-day special session sometime before June 1st.

The final day of the 2023 regular session would almost certainly include acceptance of the operating budget - but passage of the Blake response bill seemed more complicated.

The biennium operating budget as revised by fiscal committee leadership from both chambers would be published on Saturday at noon, the second to last day of the 2023 regular session.

Six of seven clearly active cannabis bills were on the Governor’s desk awaiting signature into law, veto, or partial veto while representatives tried to offer tax relief to “eligible farmers.”

All seven clearly active cannabis bills had been passed by the Legislature and the conference committee on the operating budget planned to release their revisions on Saturday at noon.

Legislators appeared to have resolved a dispute over language added to the final clearly active cannabis bill by members of the House, and the WSLCB lobbyist hinted at the budget timeline.