The Week Ahead
(April 26, 2021)

Washington State Flag - Mountain

Only two cannabis-specific bills were passed before the end of the 2021 Washington state legislative session; we speculate about factors in play during a complex and busy interim.

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

Monday April 26th

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

Tuesday April 27th

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

Wednesday April 28th

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

Thursday April 29th

On Thursday at 9am PT, the Department of Ecology (DOE) Cannabis Science Task Force (CSTF) Steering Committee was scheduled to convene.

On Thursday at 10am PT, the monthly WSLCB Marijuana Traceability Project (MTP) Integrator Work Session was scheduled to recur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • We reported the incorrect date for this event as occurring on April 22nd last week. When hosted, these events occur on the last Thursday of each month.

Friday April 30th

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

2021 Legislative Session

At the Washington State Legislature, the end of the regular session (“sine die”) was declared on Sunday April 25th drawing to a close the first largely virtual legislative session in the State’s history. The final week did not disappoint, at least from the perspective of expecting unusual things to transpire---often quickly---as the hard deadline of sine die approached.

Only two cannabis-specific bills were passed by the Legislature: SB 5372 for the hemp sector and HB 1443 for the marijuana sector. The fiscal biennium operating budget, SB 5092, was taken up by an appointed conference committee and reported out early on the afternoon of Saturday April 24th. Shortly thereafter, the House convened to take up the late-blooming SB 5476 and adopted further potential transformations to the drug policy landscape of Washington state. The bill as amended by the House was quickly returned to the Senate, whose leadership brought the bill up for a concurrence vote on Saturday evening resulting in the narrow passage of fairly radical legislation backed by substantial appropriations in both the operating budget and, unusually, the bill itself.

Outside of the cannabis sector, a great deal of meaningful legislation was passed this session in unusual circumstances. It’s hard to ascertain how much of that success can be attributed to unique factors of this session: solid Democratic majorities in both chambers, a purposefully limited number of bills emphasizing declared priorities, the physical restriction of lobbyists (and many legislators) from the capitol grounds, the affordances and encumbrances of the virtual context, the socio-cultural moment. Similarly, it’s hard to ascertain how many of those unique factors within the control of legislative leadership will be carried over into the next session.

One thing does seem clear: we will be in a very different place at the beginning of the next session. The sale of chemically-derived delta-8-THC products and wider recognition that the cannabis plant produces an entourage of other “psychoactive” molecules could challenge the façade of legal fictions at the core of the arbitrary distinction between ‘hemp’ and ‘marijuana’. In the interim before the complementary short legislative session next spring, the WSLCB plans to convene an external work group on the subject of psychoactive molecules beyond delta-9-THC to help agency staff draft request legislation seeking to expand the agency’s regulatory authority.

Assuming the Governor takes action on HB 1443, the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF) was imbued with greater power to influence cannabis policy. Preliminary recommendations on the formation of a WSLCB social equity program and Department of Commerce technical assistance grant program were expected by the end of the year as a prerequisite for rulemaking. While slow-moving, the task force has become the locus for important conversations about the existing structure of the cannabis sector in Washington state and the many ways in which that structure could be modified.

By December 1st, the Washington State Health Care Authority (WA HCA) is required to provide legislators with a preliminary report “regarding progress toward the substance use recovery services plan” to be implemented statewide as part of SB 5476. The Authority must convene a “substance use recovery services advisory committee” to help develop the plan, which “must articulate the manner in which continual, rapid, and widespread access to a comprehensive continuum of care will be provided to all persons with substance use disorder.” SB 5476 was a substantial first step on the path towards replacing criminalization and incarceration with a behavioral health approach as the State response to individuals in possession of controlled substances. But more work amidst better organized resistance remains to be undertaken.

Cannabis-related Laws (1)

  • SB 5372 - "Concerning a hemp processor registration process."
    • Sponsors (6): Stanford, Warnick, Conway, Hasegawa, Saldaña, J. Wilson
    • Last Step: signed by WA Governor on Friday April 16th
    • Effective Date: Saturday July 24th, 90 days after adjournment of regular session

Cannabis-related Bills - Passed Legislature (4)

  • HB 1443 - "Concerning social equity within the cannabis industry."
    • Sponsors (13): Morgan, Wicks, Simmons, Berry, J. Johnson, Ramel, Kloba, Ryu, Peterson, Ormsby, Ortiz-Self, Harris-Talley, Macri
    • Previous Step: signed by WA House Speaker on April 20th
    • Previous Step: signed by WA Senate President on April 21st
    • Last Step: delivered to WA Governor on April 22nd
    • Next Step: bill action by WA Governor
  • SB 5092 - "Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium operating appropriations."
    • Previous Step: WA Senate refused to concur in WA House amendments on Wednesday April 14th, conference committee requested
    • Previous Step: WA Legislature conference committee report signed on Saturday April 24th
    • Previous Step: WA House adopted conference committee report on Sunday April 25th
    • Previous Step: WA Senate adopted conference committee report on Sunday April 25th
    • Previous Step: WA Senate President signed on Sunday April 25th
    • Last Step: WA House Speaker signed on Sunday April 25th
    • Next Step: delivery to WA Governor
  • SB 5361 - “Concerning the resentencing of persons convicted of drug offenses.”
    • Sponsors (3): McCune, Warnick, J. Wilson
    • Previous Step: passed by WA House on Thursday April 8th
    • Previous Step: concurrence vote and final passage in WA Senate on Tuesday April 20th
    • Previous Step: WA Senate President signed on Sunday April 25th
    • Last Step: WA House Speaker signed on Sunday April 25th
    • Next Step: delivery to WA Governor
  • SB 5476 - “Addressing the State v. Blake decision.”
    • Sponsors (11): Dhingra, Hasegawa, Hunt, Kuderer, Lovelett, Nguyen, Pedersen, Rivers, Robinson, Saldaña, Wellman
    • Previous Step: public hearing in WA House APP on Monday April 19th
    • Previous Step: executive session in WA House APP on Wednesday April 21st
    • Previous Step: calendared by WA House RUL on Thursday April 22nd
    • Previous Step: second and third reading in WA House on Saturday April 24th
    • Previous Step: concurrence vote and final passage in WA Senate on Saturday April 24th
    • Previous Step: signed by WA Senate President on Sunday April 25th
    • Last Step: signed by WA House Speaker on Sunday April 25th
    • Next Step: delivery to WA Governor

Cannabis-related Bills - Inactive (19)

  • HB 1019 - “Allowing residential marijuana agriculture.”
  • HB 1094 - "Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium operating appropriations."
    • Companion: SB 5092 (passed)
    • Last Step: executive session in WA House APP on March 29th
  • HB 1105 - “Concerning arrest protections for the medical use of cannabis.”
  • HB 1210 - ‘Replacing the term "marijuana" with the term "cannabis" throughout the Revised Code of Washington.’
    • Last Step: calendared by WA Senate RULE on Saturday April 10th
  • HB 1260 - “Concerning the development of the marijuana market.”
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA House COG on Monday January 18th
  • HB 1345 - “Concerning the regulation of products sold to adults age 21 and over.”
  • HB 1414 - “Aligning marijuana licensing decisions by the liquor and cannabis board with local zoning ordinances.”
  • HB 1463 - “Addressing serious mental health consequences of high-potency cannabis products by regulating the sale of cannabis concentrates.”
  • HB 1499 - “Providing behavioral health system responses to individuals with substance use disorder.”
  • SB 5004 - “Providing a tax exemption for medical marijuana patients.”
  • SB 5035 - “Concerning offender scoring of drug offenses.”
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA House PS on Saturday February 27th
  • SB 5129 - “Concerning the possession of vapor, vapor products, tobacco, and tobacco products by minors.”
  • SB 5266 - “Concerning the regulation of products sold to adults age 21 and over.”
  • SB 5327 - “Creating a confidential youth safety and well-being tip line.”
    • Sponsors (7): Brown, Frockt, Lovelett, Rivers, Short, Warnick, Wellman
    • Last Step: executive session in WA House CYF on Wednesday March 24th
  • SB 5365 - “Establishing a Washington state cannabis commission.”
  • SB 5388 - “Concerning social equity within the cannabis industry.”
    • Companion: HB 1443 (passed)
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate LCTA on Friday January 29th
  • SB 5468 - “Concerning knowing possession of a controlled substance.”
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate LAW on Monday March 1st
  • SB 5471 - “Concerning knowing possession of a controlled substance.”
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate LAW on Thursday March 4th
  • SB 5475 - “Concerning knowing possession of a controlled substance.”
    • Last Step: pro forma first reading and referral to WA Senate LAW on Monday March 22nd