The Week Ahead
(November 2, 2020)

Washington State Prevention Summit - Program - Cover

The Washington State Prevention Summit would include a revelation of the Prevention Research Subcommittee’s report on “Cannabis Concentration and Health Risks.”

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

Monday November 2nd

On Monday at 10am PT, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) COVID Legal/Policy/Rules Meeting was scheduled to recur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Agency staff leadership, Board Chair Jane Rushford, and Assistant Attorney General Bruce Turcott convene multiple times per week via webinar to discuss policy-related questions raised in the context of the pandemic.
  • Originally having met daily every work day, the schedule of meetings was shifted to 3x per week (M, W, F) on June 10th.
  • It’s Cannabis Observer’s understanding that the cadence for these internal meetings has been further stepped down, but we have not yet been able to confirm the current schedule.

Tuesday November 3rd

On Tuesday at 9am PT, the first day of the annual Washington State Prevention Summit was scheduled to occur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • In collaboration with other state agencies and prevention organizations, the Washington State Health Care Authority (WA HCA) Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (DBHR) hosts an annual Washington State Prevention Summit each fall in central Washington or virtually. The goal of the event is “to provide an enriching and culturally competent training and networking opportunity for youth, volunteers and professionals. The summit brings together those working to promote mental health and to prevent substance abuse, violence and other destructive behaviors in their communities and integrate these efforts with primary health care. The summit provides high quality workshops, forums, and hands-on learning opportunities to meet a variety of needs, including professional development for prevention professionals. The program also offers a youth track to get youth volunteers involved in prevention initiatives.”
  • In addition to WA HCA’s primary sponsorship of the event, the WSLCB was recognized as the sole “Gold Sponsor” for a $4,000 contribution while the federally funded non-profit Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) was recognized as a “Bronze Sponsor” at $1,000. No other sponsors were listed on the Summit website, leading Cannabis Observer to believe the remaining funds were likely consumer excise tax dollars allocated to WA HCA from the Dedicated Marijuana Account (DMA).
  • The first day of the Summit, as detailed in the event program, was light on cannabis-focused programming. WSLCB Public Health Education Liaison Sara Cooley Broschart was scheduled to co-present a session titled, “The Washington alcohol policy landscape: A case study for prevention.”
  • At the end of day, a meeting of the non-profit Washington Association for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention (WASAVP) was listed on the conference schedule but otherwise not detailed. WASAVP Board Members Liz Wilhelm, Derek Franklin, and former Board Member Cristal Connelly were three of 36 Planning Committee Members for the event in addition to Broschart.

The weekly WSLCB Board Caucus was cancelled.

Wednesday November 4th

On Wednesday at 9am PT, the second day of the annual Washington State Prevention Summit was scheduled to occur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Northwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center (NW PTTC) Co-Directors Kevin Haggerty and Brittany Cooper planned to present a “A couple of things about cannabis.”
    • Haggerty and Cooper planned to present two items to participants. The first was A Prevention Practitioners' Toolkit to Understanding HHS Region 10 State Cannabis Policies and Regulations. The toolkit “provides an overview of policies in [Health and Human Services (HHS)] Region 10...to help practitioners support and advocate for strong cannabis regulation policies” and includes state-specific resources such as State of Washington Cannabis Policies and Regulations: A Summary for the Prevention Workforce.
    • The session description continued, “We will also introduce you to Cannabis Concentration and Health Risks: A report for the Washington State Prevention Research Subcommittee. Again, this consensus report is intended to provide community members with information they can use to educate policy makers about the potency of cannabis.”
      • The development of a “consensus statement” by the Washington State Prevention Research Subcommittee (WA PRS) was first publicly mentioned during the September 15th Washington State House Commerce and Gaming Committee (WA House COG) Work Session by University of Washington Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute (UW ADAI) researcher Bia Carlini. Our understanding at that time was: “The WA PRS cannabis work group’s goal was development of a “consensus statement on health risks of high concentration cannabis” which Carlini said would be available to policymakers and the public before November 2020. She said the group “departed” from an approach which would “check if the science really backs what we have been perceiving as work in the community.” Instead, the group planned to assert “that high potency cannabis is more detrimental to health than lower potency, so there is a dose-response relationship.”
  • Later in the day, Broschart would be joined by the entire WSLCB Policy and Rules team to present “Putting the prevention voice into Liquor and Cannabis Board Rulemaking.”
    • The session description: “The Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) regulates and sets many of the requirements for alcohol and marijuana licensees across the state. Come learn about this often neglected part of the policy process and how it fits in with legislation. We’ll review the process and options for participation, many of which are now online, and share input about how the prevention voice can be most effective. We’ll briefly go over current allowances that have been extended to licensees due to COVID-19 with time for discussion on how to get involved.”
  • Cannabis Observer is not planning to directly observe the Washington State Prevention Summit. In the past, conference presentation materials have been made publicly available on the summit website after each event. Given the event’s sponsorship by WA HCA, a public institution, we also intend to file public records requests for responsive documents.

On Wednesday at 10am PT, the WSLCB COVID Legal/Policy/Rules Meeting was scheduled to recur.

The weekly WSLCB Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting was cancelled.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • The last 7 regularly scheduled EMT meetings have been cancelled. Although still listed as a weekly event, the Board had indicated these meetings would be hosted monthly through the end of the calendar year. The EMT last convened on September 16th after a 7-month hiatus, did not meet in October, and have also cancelled the subsequent November 11th meeting.

Friday November 6th

On Friday at 10am PT, the WSLCB COVID Legal/Policy/Rules Meeting was scheduled to recur.