The Week Ahead
(May 5, 2025)

The Cannabis Alliance - Washington Cannabis Summit - 2025 - Montage

The Lynnwood City Council took an important step towards retail, WSLCB seemed committed to refining lab test terminology, and the Cannabis Alliance would convene their annual summit.

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

Monday May 5th

City of Lynnwood - City Council - Work Session

On Monday at 6pm PT, the Lynnwood City Council (City of Lynnwood - City Council) planned to convene a work session.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • In September 2024, Lynnwood City Council Member George Hurst introduced a motion requesting that the Lynnwood Planning Commission research and offer a recommendation to allow cannabis retail stores to locate within the City by March 31st.  The motion was approved 4-3 and reproduced in the meeting minutes.
  • After many meetings, commissioners took up an action item to approve a draft recommendation on Thursday March 27th and heard a presentation from WSLCB Licensing staff on the social equity program.  After approval, commissioners emailed the recommendation to councilmembers to meet the deadline in the initial motion.
  • On Monday April 21st, councilmembers took up the recommendation during their work session and reviewed a map of the recommended zones to allow cannabis retailers to locate within city limits.  Deliberations went on well past the allotted time as several councilmembers expressed confusion about the complexities of cannabis law and reservations about the perceived propriety of making cannabis products somewhat more accessible to residents.  A majority appeared in favor of the move, but staff informed councilmembers that formally drafting and passing an ordinance would take several more months.
  • As councilmembers still had questions—or wished to continue exercising opposition—and staff required more specificity, the body scheduled additional time to consider the matter at their business meeting on Monday April 28th.  According to the staff report, “City Council affirmed that retail cannabis should be allowed within Lynnwood and approved a project schedule for Council consideration of an ordinance on September 22, 2025.”
  • During the work session on Monday, councilmembers planned to develop a “list of additional items and considerations for review. This would include additional map review of required buffers.”

Tuesday May 6th

WSLCB - Board Caucus

On Tuesday at 10am PT, the weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus was scheduled to recur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • According to the agenda, members would hear updates on legislative affairs and be prepared for rulemaking the following day.

Wednesday May 7th

WSLCB - Board Meeting

On Wednesday at 10am PT, the bi-weekly WSLCB Board Meeting was scheduled to recur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Lab Test Terminology [ Rulemaking Petition ]
    • On Wednesday, Policy and Rules staff planned to recommend acceptance of a petition from Confidence Analytics calling for “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).”
    • During the Product Samples rulemaking project, the subject of “research and development” samples (R&D or non-mandatory samples) was brought up but deemed out of scope for work on a new definition of “trade samples” to encompass former concepts of educational or internal samples.
    • In the process of transitioning authority to define private testing lab quality standards and accreditation responsibilities to the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) as mandated by the Legislature, WSLCB staff undertook a rulemaking project to rescind and consolidate several chapters of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC).
      • While WSLCB staff repeatedly claimed that efforts to excise their responsibilities would cloak no substantive changes to the rules, stakeholders disagreed, raising concerns that one particular modification would require that every lab test—including tests on interim products not bound for market—would have to be reported to the WSLCB.
      • In the final rules, WSLCB staff added a qualifier that only “required” tests would need to be reported - seeming to address stakeholder concerns but adding yet another undefined term to the WAC.
      • Policy and Rules staff also verbally committed to opening a new rulemaking project to address stakeholder concerns after the Lab Authority Transfer rule changes went into effect on May 24th.
    • On Wednesday, staff planned to recommend accepting the Lab Test Terminology rulemaking petition.  A CR-101 to formally open a rulemaking project could be filed as early as June 4th.

Thursday May 8th

At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking events were planned.

Friday May 9th

The Cannabis Alliance - WA Cannabis Summit - 2025

On Friday starting at 10am PT, the Cannabis Alliance planned to host their annual Washington Cannabis Summit in Seattle and online.

  • [ Conference Details ]
  • While the Cannabis Alliance is a membership-based nonprofit organization, Cannabis Observer works in coordination with private entities that host events featuring public officials acting in their official capacities to document cannabis policymaking information of relevance.

Free the Plant, Free the People

On Friday at 10:45am PT at the Summit, the Alliance planned to host a panel discussion titled, “Free the Plant, Free the People: Community-Based Policy.”

Homeward Bound

On Friday at 12:15pm PT at the Summit, the Alliance planned to host a panel discussion titled, “Homeward Bound: The Needs of Washington State.”