The Week Ahead
(March 31, 2025)

The Week Ahead (March 31, 2025) - WA Senate - WSLCB - Lab Testing - Non-Mandatory Samples

Before the next cutoff on Wednesday, senators would consider the WSLCB lab authority bill just as agency Enforcement tried to stretch that authority to encompass non-mandatory samples.

Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on the calendar in the week ahead.

Monday March 31st

See Cannabis Observer’s Washington State Legislature Update for Monday March 31st for more details.

WA Senate LC - Committee Meeting

On Monday at 10:30am PT, the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) was scheduled to convene.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Public Hearing
    • HB 1347 - WSLCB Lab Certification Authority
      • Passed by the House more than a month prior on February 20th, legislation by Representative Kristine Reeves would more clearly tie Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) accreditation to Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) certification of private cannabis testing labs while not limiting the latter agency’s subsequent enforcement responsibilities.
      • It’s Cannabis Observer’s understanding that consideration of HB 1347 may have been postponed because advocates were petitioning for amendments to the legislation to address reporting requirements for non-mandatory laboratory testing results, also sometimes called research and development or ‘R&D’ samples.
        • Historically, analytical data from non-mandatory tests of cannabis samples had been sought by licensed businesses to inform product development, whereas “required” testing was undertaken for products bound for market.
        • The question of whether the State or WSLCB had authority to preclude non-mandatory testing, ambiguous terminology which remained undefined in statute or rule at publication time, had not historically been pursued.  When the subject had come up in policy discussions, WSLCB staff took the position that non-mandatory testing was not only permissible, but the State may not have authority to preclude business activity beyond the scope of the agency’s oversight responsibilities.
        • In contrast, required quality control testing and reporting were clearly defined in RCW 69.50.348 and WAC 314-55-102.  Additionally, the transfer to and possession of any samples by labs required reporting to WSLCB.
      • On February 28th, the WSLCB “Chemist and Examiner Teams” sent an email to certified labs announcing “all lab test results are required to be reported to CCRS. This includes alternative sample names such as research and development (R&D), non-mandatory, non-compliance, or other terms. All these results must still be reported to CCRS.“
        • The sudden shift in policy by the Enforcement and Education division, absent any discussion with licensed businesses or laboratories, precipitated dismay and outreach by impacted communities.
      • On March 18th, the Examiners belatedly published a notice of recall dated March 14th for a panoply of products from Northwest Cannabis Solutions (NWCS) ambiguously flagged for a “High Level of concern for pesticides/residual solvents.”
        • By way of contrast, recall notifications from late 2024 onwards all specified particular pesticides or heavy metals exceeding action limits, and recalls prior to that time were unambiguous in declaring “action levels above WSLCB requirements.”
        • While temporally related and only the second recall published in 2025, it was unclear if the NWCS recall was associated with the policy shift.  Cannabis Observer reached out to NWCS leadership for comment but received no response by publication time.
        • At publication time, the WSLCB Enforcement and Education division data on administrative violations and settlement conferences was only current through January 2025.
      • On Wednesday March 19th, accredited and certified lab Confidence Analytics—at publication time, the only lab to be validated for all four testing parameters required by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA)—filed a petition for rulemaking with the WSLCB on non-mandatory lab test reporting [ Rulemaking Petition ].
        • The petition requested “a definition to provide that ‘Mandatory State Compliance Testing,’ or an equivalent term, be specifically identified and consistently used and that such testing results be required to be logged into the seed-to-sale tracking system (Tracking System). Confidence seeks to differentiate non-mandatory (a.k.a. research and development or ‘R&D’) testing from Mandatory State Compliance Testing and such non-mandatory test results shall not be subject to being logged into the Tracking System.”
        • WSLCB Policy and Rules staff must articulate a recommendation to accept or deny the petition to the Board by May 19th.
      • On Wednesday March 26th, WSLCB Enforcement and Education staff published a “Follow Up Message to Labs Sent Feb. 28, 2025“ which appeared to double down on the new policy position regarding non-mandatory test result reporting, asserting an interpretation that “any test that includes a field noted in WAC 314-55-102 must be uploaded to CCRS.”
        • Disturbingly, staff also acknowledged they removed historical information from the agency website which contradicted the new policy position: ‘We are aware there were old CCRS training resources available on YouTube that discuss “non-mandatory” testing. We have since removed links to those videos on the LCB website as it does not reflect the current language of the WACs.’
        • At publication time, there had been no changes to “the current language of the WACs” at issue since March 2022.
        • The historical links removed included materials associated with the October 29th, 2021 webinar on lab reporting requirements.  While staff removed the link to the webinar slidedeck, it remained published on the WSLCB website and replicated by Cannabis Observer.  Slide 14 addressed “Non mandatory results,” stating: “non-mandatory results do not need to be entered.”
      • Statutory and regulatory ambiguities that can lead to differing interpretations of the law should be clarified.  But attempts to disappear inconvenient historical information which contradicts new policy positions arrived at outside of public processes enshrined in the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) without any public input should be forcefully resisted leading to the censure of offending parties.
        • Cannabis Observer replicates nearly all information we reference because digitized government sources are prone to loss in our networked digital information environment.  But we also do so because government sources are prone to shifting political forces which can seek the destruction of selected information, a practice akin to the use of a "memory hole" which George Orwell warned about in his text Nineteen Eighty-Four.
        • While we are again suffering the consequences of attempts to rewrite history by the U.S. federal administration, we should not tolerate the same behavior by officials in Washington state.
    • HB 1551 - Social Equity Program Evaluation
  • Executive Session
    • HB 1066 - WSLCB Data Dashboard
    • HB 1141 - Cannabis Production Unions
      • On Friday, planned executive sessions on two cannabis-related bills were deferred until the Tuesday April 1st WA Senate LC meeting.

Tuesday April 1st

WSLCB - Board Caucus

The weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus was cancelled.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • During the caucus on Tuesday March 25th, Chair Jim Vollendroff returned to the subject of “Board Efficiencies” to clarify and revise his prior plans with the consent of the members.
  • The next day, agency staff published an announcement summarizing the changes, which included effectively halving the number of board caucuses and board meetings.
  • On Thursday, board staff modified the published board schedule to reflect the changes, which eliminated 25 previously planned public meetings through the end of 2025 including the caucus on Tuesday.

WA Senate LC - Committee Meeting

On Tuesday at 10:30am PT, the Washington State Senate Labor and Commerce Committee (WA Senate LC) was scheduled to convene.

WA House CPB - Committee Meeting

On Tuesday at 1:30pm PT, the Washington State House Consumer Protection and Business Committee (WA House CPB) was scheduled to convene.

WSU CCPRO - Cannabis Research Seminar

On Tuesday at 4pm PT, the Washington State University Center for Cannabis Policy, Research, and Outreach (WSU CCPRO) planned to host a Cannabis Research Seminar.

Wednesday April 2nd

WA Legislature - Opposite House Policy Committee Cutoff

  • The fourth cutoff gateway of the 2025 regular session would occur at close of business on Wednesday.
  • To continue being advanced, legislation must be heard, have an executive session scheduled, then be potentially amended, debated, recommended, and reported by a policy committee before the cutoff.
    • There are exceptions.  Legislation can be designated “necessary to implement budgets” (NTIB) by chamber leaders to exempt it from the regular rules of order, loosely interpreted to mean a bill was projected to have a measurable fiscal impact.
  • At publication time, one cannabis-related bill remained at risk:
    • SB 5758 - Social Equity Buffer Zones
      • See the bill text, bill analysis, and fiscal note for more details.
      • A previously planned executive session on the legislation in WA House CPB on Wednesday March 26th was deferred during the event without explanation.
        • Before the planned executive session on Monday March 24th, Representative Cindy Ryu published a proposed amendment which would establish a consistent buffer zone measurement process, potentially reshaping the geography of all cannabis retail in Washington state, not just social equity licensed businesses.
  • After Wednesday, the fiscal committees would take up referred legislation for consideration before the Opposite House Fiscal Committee Cutoff at close of business on Tuesday April 8th.

Thursday April 3rd

WA House APP - Committee Meeting

On Thursday at 1:30pm PT, the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) was scheduled to convene.

Friday April 4th

WA Pharmacy Commission - Legislative Review

On Friday at 12pm PT, the weekly Washington State Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission (WA Pharmacy Commission) Legislative Review was scheduled to recur.