WA Senate - Session - Afternoon
(March 1, 2022) - HB 1210 - Second and Third Reading

Senators voted in favor of “raising our consciousness a bit” by replacing the freighted phrase ‘marijuana’ in state laws and rules with the more scientifically appropriate term ‘cannabis.’

Here are some observations from the Tuesday March 1st Washington State Senate (WA Senate) afternoon session.

My top 3 takeaways:

• HB 1210, "Replacing the term 'marijuana' with the term 'cannabis' throughout the Revised Code of Washington," was introduced in 2021 and finally reached the Senate floor in 2022.
  • Representative Melanie Morgan, also the Chair of the  Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF), sponsored the measure to replace the word ‘marijuana.’ She said the word had been “historically associated with racism” and wanted it changed to the “scientific name of Cannabis” during the first policy committee hearing on the legislation by the Washington State House Commerce and Gaming Committee (WA House COG) in January 2021.
    • The bill was passed by WA House COG a week later after it had been amended to require the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) to conduct expedited rulemaking to also change the word ‘marijuana’ to ‘cannabis’ in the state administrative code.
    • The legislation was first approved by the full Washington State House of Representatives (WA House) in March 2021.
    • Over the next couple of weeks, HB 1210 received a hearing and was approved by Washington State Senate Labor, Commerce, and Tribal Affairs Committee (WA Senate LCTA), but momentum stopped and the bill was sent back to the WA House at the end of the 2021 legislative session.
  • On January 14th, WA House COG members again approved the bill with technical changes before it was passed by the WA House a second time on February 2nd.
  • WA Senate LCTA heard the bill once more on February 17th before recommending it be passed on February 21st.
  • Senator Karen Keiser, a member of the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE), used one of her limited number of bill pulls to place HB 1210 on the chamber floor calendar on February 25th.
  • Here’s the most current information on the bill as of publication time:
    • Bill Text
    • Bill Report - WA Senate
    • Bill Report - WA House
    • Fiscal Note

• As a motion for final passage was made, WA Senate President Pro Tempore Karen Keiser and Senator Curtis King offered brief remarks supporting the legislation.
  • With no amendments offered, Keiser moved to suspend senate rules so that HB 1210 could be moved to third reading “and final passage.” Having heard no objections, Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck, also the WA Senate President, approved the motion (audio - <1m, video).
  • Keiser described the bill’s impact as "cleaning up our own RCWs in terms of the language that we have used over the years, as well as raising our consciousness a bit." She said that replacing ‘marijuana’ in state law with ‘cannabis’ addressed a historic and “negative association with the term," with legislators having taken notice that “using the term ‘cannabis’ is more neutral, and also more accurate” (audio - 1m, video). 
  • King, also a WA SECTF appointee, backed up Keiser’s remarks and “asked the body for their support” (audio - <1m, video).

• The final vote resulted in passage of the bill with broad bipartisan support, making it the first cannabis-specific enrolled bill in 2022.
  • WA Senate staff confirmed the results of a voice vote that showed 41 senators in favor of changing the word in state laws and rules (audio - 2m, video):
    • Eight Republicans opposed the change, coincidentally all White men:
      • Senator Perry Dozier
      • Senator Phil Fortunato
      • Senator Jim Honeyford 
      • Senator Jim McCune 
      • Senator Mike Padden
      • Senator Mark Schoesler
      • Senator Simon Sefzik 
      • Senator Jeff Wilson 
  • Being identical to the version passed by the House and thereby avoiding the need for a concurrence vote, the legislation was then signed by:
    • Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins
    • WA House Chief Clerk Bernard Dean
    • Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck
    • Secretary of the Senate Sarah Bannister
  • The enrolled legislation would be delivered to Governor Jay Inslee, who can sign or partially veto legislation before it becomes law, unless he chooses to veto it altogether. As HB 1210 was passed more than five days before adjournment of the session, it can be acted upon within five days once delivered to Inslee’s office, or becomes law in the event he fails to sign or veto the measure. 
  • At time of publication, among 18 U.S. states which had legalized cannabis for adult use, the word ‘marijuana’ was still being used in an official capacity in Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New York, and Virginia.

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