WSLCB - Executive Management Team
(September 16, 2020) - Regulators Roundtable

[ Event Details ]

Director Rick Garza provided a summary of the most recent Regulators Roundtable, a biannual meeting among American and Canadian officials responsible for legal cannabis regulation.

  • The roundtable gatherings provide a venue for regulators to share expertise and information from their varied cannabis legalization efforts. While closed to the public, participating WSLCB staff typically briefed the Board on their activities at the events, such as the previous roundtable in Baltimore, Maryland at the end of 2019.
  • Garza elaborated on the group’s history which began with the first roundtable in Olympia in early 2017 with Washington, Colorado, Alaska, and Oregon represented. Since then, gatherings have occurred in Portland, Boston, Denver, Juneau, and Baltimore.
  • Following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference in Portland, Oregon initially scheduled for June was rescheduled as a virtual event to be hosted between August 17th and 21st with panels for two hours each day. Representatives from 27 states and 6 provinces participated along with U.S. and Canadian federal officials - “about 180 folks.” Garza said this format allowed for “people to work, and yet, at the same time be able to be part of the summit...and it went off very well” (audio - 7m).
  • Sessions at the roundtable mentioned by Garza included:
    • “Hemp and Cannabinoids”
    • “COVID-19 and Marijuana” where Nordhorn was a panelist
    • “Enforcement and Illicit Markets” in which Garza was a panelist
    • “Packaging, Labeling, and Advertising” where Hoffman was a panelist
    • “Lab Testing,” where Hodgson asked several questions
    • “Social Equity”
    • “Publicly Traded Companies” 
    • “Vaping,” with Broschart as a panelist
  • This roundtable included a feature which Garza said Washington officials had recommended: a pre-recorded “Regulator 101 session because there’s so many new states that continue to join the roundtable.” The recording included content from Garza as well as:
  • Garza credited Andrew Brisbo, Executive Director for the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency, for offering staff to help run the sessions. Garza also felt that “we get better at this every time we do it.” Board Chair Jane Rushford commented on the “amazing” attendance she’d seen including a roundtable session with over 100 attendees.

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