WA House COG - Committee Meeting
(October 21, 2021) - Trade Association Updates

Cannabis trade associations shared their legislative priorities around out-of-state ownership, social equity, medical cannabis, and synthesized cannabinoids.

Here are some observations from the Thursday October 21st Washington State House Commerce and Gaming Committee (WA House COG) Committee Meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

• The first panel from the Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) gave a presentation on the state of cannabinoid regulation and what more could be done along with improving social equity.
  • Joseph DuPuis, Doc and Yeti Urban Farms Owner and WACA Board of Trustees Member, started off by describing his business as “craft cannabis” and explained that he was attending MJBizCon in Las Vegas, Nevada, where industry participants collaborated and networked “in learning about new products and services.” DuPuis remarked that compared to “our counterparts across the nation,” he’d found Washington to be “an outlier in sometimes its prohibitionist approach and has missed some significant opportunities” since voters legalized the plant in 2012. He argued that more must be done to help small businesses like his prepare “to compete with our peers in other states pending federal legalization” (audio - 7m, video).
    • DuPuis considered WACA an organization that was “constantly focused on what is on the horizon, as well as what we should prioritize as an industry so that we acknowledge that [with] the 20th anniversary of the [Initiative-]502 passing we are still leading the world when it comes to cannabis policy, innovation, and excellence.” He believed a “significant part” would be “improving social equity” which he said could help “the existing system to benefit more people while also continuing to prepare our local workers, businesses, and industry for the next ten years.”
    • He commented that WACA members wanted “attention on policies necessary to align cannabis with other sectors and for your openness to what our industry continues to fight against when it comes to attitudes about adult use cannabis.” One possible change was removing the law limiting cannabis license ownership to residents of Washington, DuPuis said, as “current restrictions on access to capital have a negative impact on” businesses like his. “In Washington, if you’re not already sitting on a nest egg or if you don’t have access to an in-state network of wealth you are immediately at a disadvantage,” he added.
    • Washington state could “continue to be among the best” in legal cannabis, DuPuis commented, but had a “regulatory environment that attempts to pick winners and losers rather than allowing the market to evolve through competition and innovation.” He considered the state cannabis sector to be “at odds with other states, including our immediate neighbor to the south, Oregon.” 
    • DuPuis felt Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) leaders were still prioritizing unnecessary regulations to the detriment of the “traceability system, public safety, as well as preventing diversion into the illicit market,” and asked for lawmaker action to ensure the state remained a leader on cannabis policy. “To be fair, the industry regularly cannibalizes itself,” he believed, through “use of anonymous complaint[s]...system to undermine competitors by leveraging eager anti-drug enforcement and investigation.” DuPuis urged officials to reach out “to me and others in WACA about what we do.”
  • Shannon Vetto, Evergreen Market Chief Strategy Officer and WACA Board of Trustees Member, told the committee her previous professional “experience was in global capital markets and accounting,” which gave her insight into “executive business transactions in highly regulated markets.” She noted she was also a member of Women Empowered in Cannabis, and found that regardless of the commodity, “it’s difficult to craft sound policy without first defining the economics” (audio - 7m, video).  
    • Vetto reported that WACA leaders had “retained High Peak Strategy,” an economics firm run by Spencer Cohen, “an economist with extensive experience evaluating economic contributions of business sectors across our state.” She promised his firm would submit “a final report with you later this year.”
    • Key figures Vetto highlighted:
      • “In 2020, licensed cannabis businesses directly supported 11,330 jobs across the state.”
      • “In accounting for indirect and induced impacts, the cannabis industry supports a total of 18,360 jobs in Washington, associated with $2.7 billion in total business sales and $868.9 million in labor income, including wages and supplemental benefits.”
      • “For every 10 jobs in the cannabis sector, an additional six jobs are supported through either indirect or induced efforts.”
    • “We should be proud of the cannabis industry’s track record for creating jobs of all kinds across the state,” Vetto commented, as well as the “contribution of the sector to public services” via tax revenue. She said that between fiscal years (FY) 2015 and 2020 “cannabis excise tax revenue grew 152%, that’s the equivalent of 26% per year.” In that same time period, Vetto indicated, total revenue growth for the state was “only 32%.” She said “when accounting for public tax revenue, contributions of indirect and induced economic activity by the cannabis sector, the total tax impact” from the cannabis sector had been “$695.4 million.”
    • Considering the history of the regulated cannabis market, Vetto viewed economic contributions from the cannabis industry as “still nascent.” Going forward, she wanted the economic discussions around the plant to include social equity “as we discuss business challenges today, and on the horizon.” She felt out-of-state financing and limits on the number of retail licenses a single owner could hold led to her “painful decision to look to other states rather than having the opportunity to continue to invest in our communities here at home.” Vetto felt this put state businesses “at a severe disadvantage” when looking to compete in an eventual national market.
    • “The initial startup costs for a retail location ranges from $500,000 to $2 million,” Vetto told committee members. Brands licensed from companies outside Washington were competing with brands established here, she asserted, “making it more difficult for us to uphold the quality and consistency for our customers.” Believing the state to be “saddled with constraints that limit local businesses’ ability to scale,” she warned that the state could be “left behind.”  
  • Vicki Christophersen, WACA Executive Director and Lobbyist, began by speaking to social equity efforts, stating WACA members were “deeply committed to the work of addressing disparities and equity in the marketplace” and the “relentless pursuit of what should be an equitable system in Washington.” She said the best role for the established cannabis sector was “to listen” while noting a position paper members of the organization shared in January, so as to avoid “jumping ahead of the important work and conversation of the [social equity] task force” (audio - 6m, video).
    • Christophersen spoke to ongoing enforcement reform at WSLCB and the independent enforcement review undertaken by Hillard Heintze in 2019, saying “we’re pleased to see the agency has begun” implementing changes. She acknowledged “lopsided” fines and penalties had been significantly revised by agency leaders.
    • Christophersen praised particular WSLCB staff while highlighting other positive changes at WSLCB.
      • Director of Licensing and Regulation Becky Smith had facilitated “collaborative interactions with the licensing division” where leaders including were “responsive, nimble, and open to new ideas,” she noted, like a “simplified process for licensees to make simple changes to their license” such as floor plan alterations.
        • Smith described the transfer of several licensing tasks to customer service personnel on September 8th (audio - 2m, video).
      • Christopherson hailed Director of Enforcement and Education Chandra Brady as another person at WSLCB who listened and acted upon concerns raised by WACA members, calling her leadership “key to ongoing culture change at the agency.”
      • She also lauded the work of WSLCB Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jim Morgan, claiming he’d brought “a new focus and a sense of urgency to resolving the traceability issues.”
    • Christophersen encouraged continued changes at WSLCB “with an eye towards the scope of the responsibility they now have” as the “bias regarding cannabis and the people in the industry still exists in society and it stands to reason that it still exists in some at the agency.” She assured lawmakers that when WACA members “express frustration, we don’t do it flippantly, and we do it with legitimate concern.” Christophersen concluded by noting that the organization would settle on its legislative agenda for 2022 at their Fall Policy Conference.
  • Brad Douglass, The Werc Shop Vice President of Intellectual Property & Regulatory Affairs and a WACA member, gave a presentation from his “position as a scientist” with “long standing participation in the legal cannabis industry” (audio - 7m, video, presentation):
    • He first went over reasons he believed I-502 was approved by voters:
      • “Disapproval of cannabis criminalization and inequitable harm to our communities
      • Approval for regulating cannabis to make it safer and to sanction for adult-use
      • Desire to eliminate the dangers of underground manufacturing
      • Belief that cannabis offered wellness/therapeutic benefits beyond a single active constituent (cf. dronabinol)
      • Support for research into the benefits AND/OR hazards of cannabis
      • Understanding that there is much more to learn about cannabis and the oversight necessary to help protect public health and safety”
    • Those who drafted and implemented the initiative “used liquor regulation as a model,” Douglass asserted, “something that we knew.” This turned out to be a “simplistic regulatory framework,” he argued, that was “at odds with each of the motivations for cannabis legalization” he’d cited. Douglass said “regulators have been prevented from wading into the complexity of the cannabis plant” and asserted that “prohibition of naturally occurring cannabis compounds in regulated systems is now forcing these compounds back into the illicit marketplace.” Regulations based around “one or, perhaps, two compounds has been a disservice to those medical patients that were folded into the 502 system.”
    • State officials needed to “carefully respect innovation, but not fear it” Douglass commented, indicating that delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8-THC) had become available “outside of the regulated marketplace, to children, over the internet, in gas stations.” Wanting to keep “cannabinoids that get people high in the regulated system,” he added that delta-8-THC “psychotropic activity also comes with medical properties.” Douglass said compounds like delta-10-THC and tetrahydrocannabiphorol (THCP) were similarly psychotropic and policy makers needed to “do a better job of squaring the botanical reality with our legal/regulatory system.” He called for expanded “cannabinoid authority” for WSLCB staff with a goal of allowing “all compounds found in cannabis” to be sold in the legal market to adults following proper testing.
      • Read the third draft of the proposed request bill which was released by WSLCB staff on November 1st, including a summary of its provisions, and a one pager.
    • Douglass shared a “daunting roadmap” calling for a “clear” definition on “what cannabinoids are permitted, what are prohibited so that we can move forward with understanding” the difference between artificial and synthetic cannabinoids. Since some substances were “THC-like, that do, in fact, get people high,” he asked for them to be regulated similarly to delta-9-THC.
    • Douglass was a panelist for the WSLCB Deliberative Dialogue on Cannabis Plant Chemistry on June 3rd and spoke at a WA House COG meeting in September 2020.
  • Chair Shelley Kloba thanked the panelists for their remarks, saying she knew that WSLCB officials had been trying to “get all the facts necessary” to make regulations (audio - 1m, video).

• Representatives of the Cannabis Alliance shared a letter on their priorities for cannabis businesses and for medical cannabis patients.
  • Caitlein Ryan, Interim Executive Director and Board President, stated that Alliance members were “dedicated to the advancement of a vital, ethical, and sustainable cannabis industry.” She said the group’s principles were “firmly planted in advocating for the needs of our medical community” as when “patients are ensured safe and equitable access, traditional adult use markets benefit as well.” She testified that the patient community had “experienced a low rate of confidence in the safety of Washington regulated cannabis” and promised to address potential remedies (audio - 2m, video).
    • See Ryan’s discussion with WSLCB Board Chair David Postman at the Washington State Cannabis Summit on September 23rd.
  • John Kingsbury, Patients United representative and chair of the patient caucus of the Cannabis Alliance, noted that in 1998 there had been public “recognition of the need for medical cannabis.” However, “since the passage of Initiative-502, other than some unrealized commitments contained in [SB] 5052, creating appropriate access to medical cannabis has largely been ignored” (audio - 1m, video).
    • Kingsbury reported that since 2017 “50% of qualified patients are not accessing the regulated system, and that statistic appears to be trending in the wrong direction.” Acknowledging there were multiple reasons, he summarized key barriers as a “lack of trust” in legal cannabis “product hygiene” and insecurity regarding the “legal status” of patients.
    • A continued lack of attention by lawmakers to “appropriate access” to medical cannabis was “untenable” according to Kingsbury. “Years of neglect” couldn’t be remedied in a single legislative session, he granted, but “the Alliance does have some very good ideas about where to begin, like improving quality assurance testing,” which “can no longer be delayed.”
      • In October 2018, Kingsbury filed a petition on pesticide testing with WSLCB.
      • Kingsbury also filed a petition with WSLCB to require medically endorsed retailers to stock and offer medically compliant products for sale.
  • Lara Kaminsky, Cannabis Alliance Government Affairs Liaison, continued on the subjects of “adequate quality assurance testing” and testing lab standardization (audio - 2m, video).
    • While quality control was a “primary reason patients are staying out of the regulated market,” she termed it a “significant health and safety concern” for all consumers, saying their group had advocated for the change “for quite a while, since 2016.” Kaminsky was under the impression WSLCB leaders would “have updated quality assurance rules by the end of this year that will address pesticide testing” as the topic “could no longer wait.”
    • Kaminsky also noted the Alliance involvement in the Cannabis Science Task Force as the group made “recommendations for the oversight and accreditation of cannabis testing labs by the Department of Ecology (DOE).” This effort was “helping the State start to address the ongoing problem of inconsistent test results between labs,” she remarked. Noting its scheduled conclusion in 2024, Kaminsky shared the perspective of the group’s membership that “this is more than adequate time to establish this vital state oversight.” 
  • Ryan next discussed Alliance positions on the traceability transition, medical cannabis terminology, and synthesized cannabinoids (audio - 3m, video). 
    • Ryan was gracious to WSLCB staff for taking input on “improving traceability by moving away from Leaf Data [Systems] to the new Cannabis Central Reporting System” (CCRS). However, she found “the short timeline to come into compliance with the new, dramatically different, audit-based system” to be a serious challenge without “regulatory support.” She thanked Micah Sherman, Raven Co-Owner and a Washington Sun and Craft Growers Association (WSCA) board member, for helping lead third-party software integrators and laboratories in a collaborative effort that included the Cannabis Alliance to “agree on, and implement, a method of systems communication.” That step---which she noted was absent from the WSLCB “transition plan”---would help ensure cannabis licensees “are not restricted to doing business with only partners who share the same technology vendor.” Ryan asked that the “robust” effort be supplemented by “an official compliance grace period of at least three months.”
    • Another of the “safe regulatory practices” Ryan mentioned would “alleviate tension in the discussion regarding structure and function claims on packaging.” She noted that cannabis regulating agencies like WSLCB  used “the term ‘medical marijuana’” routinely in official documents, “however, the LCB labeling department does not allow industry to use the term ‘medical’ anywhere on our packaging.” Ryan commented that there was a need for “agreed upon terminology to identify medical cannabis” and suggested the phrase “medical-grade cannabis” as this referenced quality and “not the therapeutic effects.” She asked that lawmakers pass legislation directing WSLCB staff “to allow this verbiage on our packaging.”
    • “Artificial and synthetic cannabinoids, including delta-8, and [cannabidiol] CBD-derived delta-9, has been an ongoing and challenging conversation,” she stated. After learning a lot, “the Cannabis Alliance does not have confidence that we have learned enough to pass legislation that would create a pathway for artificial or synthetic cannabinoids into the regulated market.” Giving “full throated support” for delta-8-THC to “be firmly under the regulatory authority” of WSLCB staff, Ryan nonetheless found “any additional action would be premature to understanding the public safety impact of any new rule and subsequent enforcement.”
  • Kingsbury told the committee it “was past time to approve the right to home growing” and that although “most adults will not choose to grow at home” the right would remain “critical” for “those who will choose to do it.” As Washington was “an outlier in denying this right to its citizens,” he commented that the actual impacts were “well known, there have not been adverse effects in other states as a result.” Home growing wouldn’t amount to “a social experiment,” Kingsbury believed, as “almost all legal states” already permitted the practice, and officials would be following a “well worn path” (audio - 1m, video).
    • At publication time, HB 1019 ("Allowing residential marijuana agriculture") remained active legislation that could be taken up during the 2022 legislative session.
  • Kaminsky mentioned a report commissioned by the group, 2020 Contributions of the Washington Cannabis Sector, had found “extremely compelling evidence that the addition of a modest home grow provision...would have a profound positive impact on revenue to the state.” She said this was a “similar outcome to the craft beer industry with the development of home brewing” which had resulted in a more involved consumer base and higher quality products (audio - 1m, video). 
    • Find out more about the cited research from its presentation to WA House COG members on January 15th and during comments before the Washington State House Appropriations Committee (WA House APP) on February 9th.
  • Kingsbury talked about the “legal vulnerability” faced by many patients from state institutions “openly hostile and skeptical to us” and lifting the excise tax off medical cannabis (audio - 2m, video).
    • He said otherwise qualified patients were opting to “stay outside of the regulated system, rather than working within it,” according to patient surveys he’d conducted since 2017. Kingsbury asserted that “to break that mistrust the legislature should pass HB 1105 with arrest protections for qualified patients” complying with state law. This would be a powerful sign that “the state does not see us as criminals first,” he remarked.
    • Feeling that the state must “arrive at a point where all products are tested,” he suggested a “good first step” would be for the legislature to pass SB 5004 to exempt the excise tax on “medical grade products for patients who are registered in the database.” This could lead to more compliant products and affordable costs, Kingsbury reasoned, taking “sales directly from the illicit market.”
      • Kingsbury testified before the Washington State Citizen Commission for Performance Measurement of Tax Preferences (WA Commission for Measurement of Tax Preferences) on September 9th in regards to a review of cannabis tax exemptions available to medical patients.
      • Learn more about Kingsbury’s involvement in the development of SB 5004, legislation removing the excise tax on medically compliant products for patients registered with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) in the patient database. Sponsored by Senator Karen Keiser, the bill was heard on March 16th and remained active through the 2022 legislative session.
  • Ryan added that “any lack of equity for all patients is compounded and disproportionately impacts our community’s members of color” in addition to “the makeup of our industry due to unjust barriers to entry for licensure.” She said that Alliance members supported the Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF), were “impressed” by the recommendations under discussion, and planned to advocate for those positions in 2022 (audio - 1m, video). 
  • Kaminsky brought up legislation that could “go a long way in addressing many of the issues that we’ve raised today,” a “powerful solution whose time has come.” SB 5365 (“Establishing a Washington state cannabis commission”) was the latest bill on the topic that had been lobbied for by organization members, she commented, having heard “time and again that the one element that we really need” was “scientific research” which could be undertaken by such a commission. Kaminsky also thought research could cover “the impact of industry innovation such as delta-8 conversion” or the “financial impacts, market penetration, and success of legalization.” She differentiated commission research from “private research,” saying the former could be shared publicly “to help the entire industry” by way of “democratic and equitable access to knowledge and information” (audio - 2m, video).
  • Ryan closed by saying Cannabis Alliance members would be a “source of information and education as well as a collaborative partner” for lawmakers (audio - <1m, video). 
  • Kloba offered committee members’ gratitude for the panelists’ participation (audio - <1m, video). 

• A panel from the Washington Sun and Craft Growers Association (WSCA) focused on “the structure of the cannabis market” and their opposition to synthetic cannabinoids being permitted in regulated cannabis products. 
  • Shawn DeNae Wagenseller, Washington Bud Company Co-Owner and WSCA Board Member, testified that the group was “100% licensee led” with a mission to “advance and protect the interests of sun and craft cannabis growers through the development of rule and law that supports an economically and environmentally sustainable cannabis industry” (audio - 1m, video). 
  • Micah Sherman, Raven Co-Owner and WSCA Board Member, stated that WSCA members were focused on defining “craft cannabis” in a “similar manner to how we’ve done for breweries and spirit producers.” Considering “the structure of the cannabis market,” he said the aim of the group was to help create a “more resilient and durable small business ecosystem.” Citing his involvement as a WA SECTF member, he articulated equity as “the principle of fairness” that needed to be broadly implemented across the cannabis sector “so that all of our businesses can thrive, produce quality product, create great jobs, and continue to exist within a small business ecosystem” (audio - 9m, video). 
    • Washington needed an equitable state cannabis market before a “pivot” to compete in a national one, Sherman argued, bringing up his work lobbying for craft cannabis legislation. The concept allowed for small cannabis producers to “operate in a similar way to craft brewing,” he observed, saying a new “simplified” version of the legislation was being drafted for 2022 based on the “endorsement model for the alcohol industry.”
    • The new bill would also allow producers with a craft cannabis endorsement “direct access to their consumers” that Shermain felt would repair issues of “trust” and “transparency” mentioned by other panels. He believed that Washington had been a state where “people got very accustomed to knowing their farmer” and purchasing from them directly, claiming that was “something that we lost in the transition to a regulated, recreational market.” Sherman remarked that craft cannabis was “all about” rebuilding the trust between producers and consumers and that “all of the issues that have been talked about around synthetic cannabinoids, the disruption that that’s had in our marketplace, a lot of those things would be less harmful in an economy that was more resilient.” 
    • Considering a future “national marketplace,” Sherman said that it remained to be seen if there would be federally-regulated interstate commerce, or an arrangement “where our state markets are able to create interstate compacts with each other.” The latter approach was what he thought would be most “resilient for all of our small operators,” adding that WSCA had reached out to “small farmer trade groups” in other states, looking for interest of governors “in west coast production states” to set up cannabis trade compacts without waiting for changes in federal laws.
      • In 2019, Oregon lawmakers prepared for interstate cannabis commerce via SB 582, contingent upon a change in the federal status of cannabis or issuance of an authorizing memorandum. Alliance for Sensible Markets, an Oregon trade group, advocates for “calling on governors of newly legal and legalizing states to reach out to Oregon Governor Kate Brown, who signed historic interstate commerce legislation in 2019, to discuss an interstate compact.”
    • Sherman next explained his involvement in WA SECTF, saying there were “a lot of great ideas that are going to be coming out” from the group, with many that “dovetail” with the priorities of WSCA members. Supporting “new businesses that come into this marketplace” was important, as he believed the cannabis sector was “pretty tough...and it’s not conducive to bringing in a lot of new people” in its current configuration. Sherman wanted a cannabis market that could welcome new licensees without “being afraid how that will affect us negatively.” He wanted to achieve adequate production capacity for “all of the products that we need for our regulated marketplace, we don’t need to be looking at importation to be able to supply those needs.” Sherman said Washington was “very far ahead” of other legal cannabis states and that more could be done to enhance “that resilient economy” and eventually become a “successful exporter.” He mentioned that WA SECTF members were also looking at new “paths to market” with new license types like delivery or social consumption that could bring about a “diversified” cannabis sector that provided better options for medical patients.
  • Ryan Sevigny, Landrace Brands President, High Tide Ranch Owner, and Board Member of both the Cannabis Alliance and WSCA, supported calls for a cannabis commodity commission, raised concerns about the traceability transition, and opposed cannabinoid synthesis (audio - 7m, video).
    • Calling Washington an agricultural “powerhouse” from his perspective having worked for “a decade in the wine industry,” Sevigny was confident commodity commissions were a contributing factor to the success of other crops in the state and could have “wide ranging and far reaching” benefits for the cannabis industry. Officials could make the state “a leader, again” by establishing a cannabis commission.
    • Speaking to the CCRS as a Traceability 2.0 Work Group member, Sevigny echoed Ryan’s remarks that it “absolutely can work” and lauded WSLCB staff for intending “cost savings” and “ease of use.” But, he said a “major piece” missing from the CCRS plan was “interoperability.” Sevigny noted the formation of the Washington Cannabis Integrators Alliance (WCIA) which sought to “solve our interoperability issues” and was a good example of industry collaboration to “accomplish a lot of common goals.”
    • Sevigny was supportive of the WSLCB policy statement on delta-8-THC and other cannabinoids announced on April 28th and the “Allowable Practices for a Holder of a Marijuana Processor License” statement on July 22nd. While WSCA members supported the “intent” of proposed agency request legislation on cannabinoid regulation to expand “the LCB’s authority over all psychotropic and impairing compounds of cannabis,” they were opposed to expanding rights of processors to engage in cannabinoid synthesis and encouraged lawmakers to hold off on that aspect of the draft legislation. Sevigny argued that since implementing HB 2334 in 2018 to allow importation of CBD as a cannabis product additive, the perhaps unintended impacts had been far ranging.
    • Sevigny wrapped up by suggesting that of the participating trade groups, “two of the three are representing very similar interests focused” on sustainable small cannabis businesses.
  • Wagenseller described WSCA support for quality assurance measures, concerns about dormant licenses, and opposition to synthesized cannabinoids (audio - 5m, video).
    • WSCA members “highly support pesticide testing, however, we’d love to do it under the Department of Ag[riculture]” instead of “arbitrary lot rules.” Recalling the “over 7,000” initial applicants, she noted “there are less than 500 of us now” and the remaining producers needed “protection.”
    • Saying there were “hundred and hundreds of unused, dormant licenses that can be acquired,” she then claimed “several” licensed producers had “blatantly ignored canopy restrictions and grow over their licensed limits.” Wagenseller called for “legislative support to sunset licenses held in speculation, similar to how law forces cannabis retailers to use it or lose it” - before enacting out-of-state ownership.
    • “Importation of hemp CBD...really threatened us,” Wagenseller stated, as did the “illegal conversion into THC.” Witnessing her company’s cannabis biomass sales “plummet” and the effect on producers like her motivated her advocacy in favor of “a closed loop system comprised of naturally balanced, plant-based products.”
    • Wagenseller predicted a “hefty omnibus bill in 2023 to address past legislative harms.”
      • She said 2014 legislation for “cannabis growers to not be treated like agriculture” had impacted local zoning of licensees.
      • SB 5052 “made qualifying conditions a political system,” Wagenseller argued. She noted her Lyme disease wasn’t a qualifying condition, and that such determinations should go “into the hands of doctors and out of the hands of politicians.”
      • SB 5318 “made progress in establishing compliance and reform with LCB officers,” she commented. However, she’d received a “notice to correct” during her first compliance check “because our sign-in sheet lacked a middle initial [box], even though there’s no [Washington Administrative Code] that states that rule.” This led her to believe there was more work to do around compliance checks.
    • For Wagenseller, protection meant allowing producers “privileges” similar to craft alcohol producers. “We saw how big alcohol nearly devastated the craft beer, wine, and spirits industry,” she said, adding “let us learn from that history.” She gave thanks to Kloba and Ranking Member Drew MacEwen for “supporting funding of the agricultural [certified] cannabis program,” to establish an organic-equivalent state standard for cannabis.
  • Kloba asked about HB 2334, saying the intent of lawmakers “at that time” was “to make sure that the CBD” being imported was tested “just like anything that originated within the 502 market.” As the legislation “predated” the 2018 Farm Bill, she wondered if public officials were now in a “different environment” where HB 2334 was “not working.” Wagenseller agreed, saying those licensed to produce “within our tightly regulated system” could grow any cannabis plant “whether it’s got less than 0.3% THC in it or not” to supply the state’s cannabis market. “Innovation can be done within the market,” she said, noting that HB 2334 had allowed “illegally grown and processed cannabinoids to come into our system” which she felt wasn’t helpful. “We need to reward innovation within the system” and encourage breeding plants with desired genetics, Wagenseller concluded, rather than accepting “cannabinoids from hemp” (audio - 4m, video). 

Information Set