WSLCB - Executive Management Team
(March 8, 2023) - Summary

The timeline before WSLCB expected to issue social equity licenses was made more clear, and leadership lauded a consumer advocate for engaging on education and social use policies.

Here are some observations from the Wednesday March 8th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

• In her social equity update, Director of Licensing Becky Smith alluded to the timeline for awarding equity licenses before a calendar of WSLCB projects reinforced how new businesses were unlikely to receive licensure until summertime.
  • Smith talked about a plan to shift her staff resources towards training while emphasizing that processing of cannabis licenses, including social equity applications, shouldn’t be impacted. She mentioned that there would be one new staffer “that's going to be of course processing our social equity applications…That's all he's going to do. But we also have others that have done that work before” and she felt “prepared for whatever work comes along in that area” (audio - 2m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
    • At the March 11th Cannabis Equity Summit, Smith introduced Tyrone Jordan-Oliver as the Senior Licensing Specialist for the equity program. However, at time of publication a job listing for a Social Equity in Cannabis Program Manager was still open at WSLCB.
  • Smith talked about the application process and confirmed supporting documentation wasn’t required during initial application for the program. She explained that the license selection process included a dropdown menu where options for ‘research’ or ‘transportation’ licenses were shown, however “those licenses…aren’t available for them to apply through social equity.” People with non-program license types in their applications were notified that only the retail allotments were available, and that the agency would “refund their money” (audio - 3m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
  • Deputy Director Toni Hood presented a priority initiatives timeline which indicated that application processing by WSLCB and the third-party reviewer, Ponder Diversity Group, would continue through May. She promised updates on the awarding of licenses “later on down the road…in June and July” (audio - 8m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).

• Director of Policy and External Affairs Justin Nordhorn brought up a scheduled focus group to gather input on cannabis product sample policies ahead of potential rulemaking (audio - 9m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
  • Board members opened rulemaking on cannabis product sampling on March 1st.
  • Nordhorn established that an “informal discussion on our education and vendor sampling” would convene up to forty industry members in person on March 22nd. “What I'm trying to do is create a fairly safe environment for licensees to be able to share” feedback on their impressions and policies on sampling rules, in an event that wouldn’t be recorded “so they're comfortable sharing that information without feeling like somebody's going to come out and and have a chat with them afterwards” about enforcement or compliance actions.
  • He reported there were already “19 people that have signed up, 14 for in person, and we're also having a listening session online” for the remaining five participants. Additionally, Nordhorn said there were requests for “information ahead of time for the meeting. So, I'm working on that for them, and hopefully we'll be able to get that out this week.”
  • Cannabis Observer reached out to Nordhorn to confirm the agency would prefer the focus group meeting not be recorded, and is not planning to observe the proceeding.

• Staff reported that Bailey Hirschburg, as an advocate for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), had been in discussions with the agency on changes to their educational offerings and cannabis social use policies.
  • Director of Communications Brian Smith relayed that public comments made by Hirschburg regarding consumer education on March 1st had noted the agency education landing page was undergoing changes. This process had already been underway, involving himself and Public Health Education Liaison Mary Segawa, but he “took what he had to say to heart.” When Smith reached out to Segawa after the board meeting, he learned she’d already heard from Board Member Jim Vollendroff about Hirschburg’s remarks, “and then I heard from Chair [David] Postman on it… ten minutes later.” Smith was candid that WSLCB officials didn’t have experience “drafting this type of content for the website, but I offered up [Communications Staffer Julie Graham] and my perspective to be able to help build out those sites to be able to get the right type of information that we would want” (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
    • Vollendroff added that he considered this a situation that “really points out the value of board [meeting] participation. Here we have somebody come, they bring up…a legitimate issue and look at the response.” He felt board meetings were a “unique opportunity to talk to the director, to all three board members,” and other staff at the agency. “I really appreciate everybody's quick response and the issue that Bailey brought up, I thought was really good,” continued Vollendroff, “we do it on the alcohol side, we talk about responsible drinking and so why are we not doing that on the cannabis side? I think it's really important.” He mentioned that he’d be speaking with Hirschburg on March 13th to discuss planned changes so “we're actually getting consumer input into the final product that gets posted” (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
      • While no drafts nor changes to WSLCB consumer educational material were shared in that meeting, Vollendroff and I talked about improving information on:
        • Harm reduction in relation to cannabis use
        • Educational offerings in multiple languages and formats
        • Safe storage approaches
        • Increasing consumer input
        • Challenges in advising consumers observe the NORML Principles of Responsible Use
    • Postman suggested WSLCB education could aim towards “melding the NORML view” of responsible consumption with a “public health and prevention” perspective. He believed “both have an interest here and if we can get them to work together” on explaining “how do you do the responsible use but not make it look like you're promoting or encouraging” cannabis misuse was “totally doable.” Postman observed that “when we did our 10th anniversary conversations with the public health researchers, they talked about the need to talk to people about responsible use” (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
    • Board Member Ollie Garrett indicated that there were also more senior staff members present at board meetings given declining coronavirus-related restrictions. “When someone brings up something,” agency leaders like Policy and Rules Manager Kathy Hoffman were present and often able to “meet with you right after the meeting,” she said (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
  • During his update, Nordhorn mentioned that he and Hoffman had met with Hirschburg the day before for a “really nice, robust conversation” about cannabis consumption premises and social use policies. “We spent about an hour and a half going over everything and what I'll say is…we didn't necessarily agree on everything but he has a lot of great ideas in there.” Nordhorn found Hirschburg had taken “a lot of time and diligence on identifying risks that are associated with a bunch of variables before we even came into the meeting, which I was actually really impressed with. So I don't always get that from folks when we're interacting…on proposals.” He appreciated having “a good back and forth from his perspective and offering some feedback…and other considerations, so we're gonna be looking forward to continuing that conversation as we…look at potentially what impacts may arise for next year.”
    • The meeting was in part a response to comments on cannabis lounge policies in other states made during the January 11th EMT. I offered comments and useful resources on several areas related to consumption premises, which included information on:
      • Cannabis and Clean Air / Smoke Free laws - At time of publication, cannabis has been added to laws governing smoking or clean air in Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico, and New York. California also had exemptions for cannabis in clean air regulations.
      • Ventilation, Filtration, and Odor Control - Hirschburg noted some of the air and ventilation requirements used by other state and local governments, suggesting these could be included along with the existing air and odor requirements related to cannabis production facilities which WSLCB regulates along with other state and local agencies.
      • Sales and packaging limits for consumption premises - Hirschburg identified reduced sales limits for cannabis lounges in Alaska and Nevada laws, though sales limits appear to not be limited beyond the adult possession standards for California and Colorado.
    • I also offered my opinion on subjects such as:
      • Worker safety approaches for consumption premises
      • Why consumption premises continued to be rare in states which licensed them
      • Areas where existing alcohol practices could inform policy development
    • Nordhorn and Hoffman encouraged considering costs of implementation; corrected some impressions I had about tribal government compacts and enforcement processes; and described other state agencies with jurisdiction in relation to various health, environmental, and labor issues.
      • Cannabis lounge licensing or event permitting came up in a 2022 ordinance adopted by the Seattle City Council regarding new license types for social equity and was among the social equity task force's recommendations.
        • Hirschburg was among those that advocated for such licenses as the task force developed recommendations.
        • Attendees of the Cannabis Equity Summit also asked about cannabis lounges or private functions with edibles as an opportunity for social equity businesses.

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