Cannabis regulators from across the country planned to meet behind closed doors with selected external stakeholders before private labs met to discuss quality standards outlined by the State.
Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on the calendar in the week ahead.
Monday June 26th
CANNRA - External Stakeholder Meeting
On Monday, the Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA) was scheduled to convene its second annual External Stakeholder Meeting in Annapolis, Maryland.
- [ Event Details ]
- The Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA) is a national organization of cannabis regulators and state and territorial agency partners which describes its mission as seeking to "...to convene, educate, and support governmental jurisdictions responsible for implementing cannabis policies and regulations. We do this by fostering collaboration and coordination to identify and share best practices that safeguard public health and consumer safety, promote equity, and create regulatory certainty for industry participants."
- While historically circumspect about engaging with industry participants, in 2022 the body hosted its first external stakeholder meeting in Seattle with “Any nationally focused entity that CANNRA was able to identify who was working on cannabis policy, policy implementation, or regulation.” Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) staff played important roles in hosting the meeting and the associated in-person member meeting in June of that year.
- It’s Cannabis Observer’s understanding that admission fees to the external stakeholder meeting comprised a not insignificant portion of CANNRA’s overall revenue in 2022. The private entity is otherwise funded by public dollars from member States.
- While the 2023 meeting remains an invite-only event constrained to groups active at the national and international levels, and media representatives remain locked out of the closed door event, CANNRA staff have published a website about the event and voluntarily shared information about the parameters of the event, a list of invited organizations, and an agenda.
- Cannabis Observer also obtained an earlier version of the agenda and a list of confirmed attendees as of June 15th.
Tuesday June 27th
CANNRA - External Stakeholder Meeting
On Tuesday, CANNRA was scheduled to conclude its second annual External Stakeholder Meeting.
- [ Event Details ]
- Each day of the event was scheduled to conclude with a “CANNRA Regulators Panel” granting member officials the opportunity to share their final “Regulatory Perspectives on the Meeting Topics.” On the second day, WSLCB Director of Policy and External Affairs Justin Nordhorn would participate on that panel at the end of the event.
- WSLCB and other participating Washington State officials have traditionally offered recaps of their experiences at the CANNRA events during subsequent public meetings. In addition to Nordhorn, Research (and Policy and Rules) Manager Kathy Hoffman and Board Member Jim Vollendroff had confirmed their intention to attend the event as of June 15th.
WSLCB - Board Caucus
On Tuesday at 10am PT, the weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus was scheduled to recur.
- [ Event Details ]
WA HCA - DBHR Listening Session
On Tuesday at 1:30pm PT, the monthly Washington State Health Care Authority (WA HCA) Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (DBHR) Behavioral Health Service Provider Listening Session was scheduled to recur.
- [ Event Details ]
Wednesday June 28th
WSDA - Webinar - Cannabis Laboratory Standard Feedback
On Wednesday at 10am PT, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) planned to host a feedback webinar on draft conceptual rules around cannabis lab standards.
- [ Event Details, Rulemaking Project ]
- In 2022, the Washington State Legislature passed HB 1859 requiring the WSDA to establish and maintain cannabis testing laboratory quality standards by rule. The standards must include but are not limited to: approved methods for testing cannabis for compliance with product standards established by rule by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) or the Washington State Department of Health (DOH); method validation protocols; and performance measures and criteria applied to testing of cannabis products.
- On January 11th, WSDA staff announced the initiation of their rulemaking effort with the filing of a CR-101. A three-person team had been formed to lead WSDA efforts to help establish a Cannabis Lab Accreditation Standards Program (CLASP) for the State.
- WSDA CLASP members participated in the WSLCB Cannabinoid Science Work Group and expected to be called upon to assist WSLCB Policy and Rules staff in defining what “any detectable amount of THC” means in the context of private lab testing of cannabinoid concentrations.
- On June 22nd, WSDA staff released draft conceptual rules on cannabis testing lab quality standards and announced a feedback session would be hosted the following week.
- The day before, Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) staff announced the initiation of their complementary rulemaking effort on “Accreditation of Cannabis Laboratories.” While WSDA will specify the standards labs must meet to obtain and retain accreditation by the State, Ecology would implement the accreditation program and interface directly with private labs.
- Presumably, WSLCB staff will be responsible for opening their own rulemaking project to make needed adjustments. At publication time, private contractor RJ Lee remained the body responsible for accrediting labs to standards defined by WSLCB.
- It’s Cannabis Observer’s understanding that key Ecology staff say they won't accredit labs which conduct proficiency tests (PTs) with hemp-matrix solutions. Unfortunately, there are no high-THC cannabis matrix PT providers in Washington state and it’s unclear if a special WSLCB license type would have to be created by legislators for such an entity to legally exist, process high-THC cannabis, and conduct sales of PTs. Annette Hoffmann, the former chair of the DOE-hosted Cannabis Science Task Force, outlined this issue in comments to legislators in late 2021.
Thursday June 29th
At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking events were scheduled.
Friday June 30th
At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking events were scheduled.