Federal substance abuse regulators planned to promote concerns about CBD, Ecology staff prepared to accredit private labs, and the WSLCB revealed 2024 request legislation proposals.
Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on the calendar in the week ahead.
Monday August 7th
At publication time, no cannabis-related policymaking events were scheduled.
Tuesday August 8th
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 ]
- During the August 1st caucus, Policy and Rules staff noted receiving ~300 responses on the Product Samples rulemaking project survey. In response, staff planned to defer release of a CR-102 containing proposed rules to late October.
- Staff also noted rulemaking to implement SB 5367 was "on track" for a CR-102 in October.
PTTC NCO - Webinar - CBD - Potential Harms, Side Effects, and Unknowns
On Tuesday at 11:30am PT, the Prevention Technology Transfer Center Network Coordinating Office (PTTC NCO) planned to host a webinar on “Cannabidiol (CBD): Potential Harms, Side Effects, and Unknowns.”
- [ Event Details ]
- As momentum builds at the federal level to address hemp cannabinoid products, entities with a stake in outcomes from a change to federal cannabis policy have begun making their positions more clearly known. Within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (US HHS)---the parent entity of the Food and Drug Administration—the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US SAMHSA) published an “Advisory” titled “Cannabidiol (CBD): Potential Harms, Side Effects, and Unknowns” in mid-February.
- Starting in 2018, US SAMHSA established and began funding the Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) Network to improve implementation and delivery of effective substance abuse prevention interventions, and provide training and technical assistance services to the substance abuse prevention field. At publication time, the PTTC Network was comprised of 12 Domestic Regional Centers, 2 National Focus Area Centers, and a Network Coordinating Office (PTTC NCO).
- On Tuesday, the PTTC NCO plans to host a webinar on the subject of the earlier CBD advisory, and the panelists include two US SAMHSA representatives.
- Humberto Carvalho, US SAMHSA Project Officer
- Krishnan Radhakrishnan, US SAMHSA National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory Senior Advisor
- Amy Berninger, Abt Associates Health Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation Senior Associate
Wednesday August 9th
WSLCB - Executive Management Team
On Wednesday at 1:30pm PT, the three-member Board and agency leadership were scheduled to convene their monthly WSLCB Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting.
- [ Event Details ]
- At the last EMT meeting on July 12th, WSLCB Deputy Director Toni Hood promised an update on all large software project timelines including the systems modernization project (SMP) and the traceability RFI which was closed on August 3rd.
Thursday August 10th
DOE - Webinar - Accreditation of Cannabis Laboratories - Public Workshop
On Wednesday at 2pm PT, the second of two Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) webinar workshops on the Accreditation of Cannabis Laboratories was scheduled to occur.
- [ Event Details, Rulemaking Project ]
- On June 21st, Ecology staff initiated rulemaking as part of the transition of responsibility for cannabis lab accreditation from WSLCB to other state agencies.
- At publication time, Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) staff were well underway on more primary rulemaking to define cannabis lab accreditation standards. Ecology staff would then perform accreditation testing to gauge the capacity of private labs to meet and abide by the WSDA rules.
- At publication time, WSLCB staff had not announced complementary rulemaking to remove lab standards and accreditation requirements from their own rules.
- On Wednesday July 26th, DOE staff released draft conceptual rules and announced two public workshops to “share our rule development process and listen to suggestions on the draft rules.”
- At the first webinar workshop hosted on Wednesday August 2nd, DOE staff described their rulemaking process and expected timeline before delving into the details of their draft rules. Of note, the enacting legislation required Ecology to recoup program costs—estimated to be roughly half a million dollars—directly and exclusively from the regulated community of private labs. As there were only eight labs at publication time, they calculated each lab would be required to pay $62K per year to maintain baseline accreditation with the State - on top of costs to meet new requirements, implement standardized methods, and prepare for audits. Ecology staff recognized additional burdens this would place on labs and their customers, and proposed a graduated four year ramp up to the full annual expense.
Friday August 11th
WSLCB - Webinar - Agency Request Legislation Proposals
On Friday at 1:30pm PT, the first of three WSLCB webinars seeking feedback on 2024 agency request legislation proposals was scheduled to occur.
- [ Event Details ]
- Late on Friday August 4th, WSLCB Director of Policy and External Affairs Justin Nordhorn emailed an undisclosed list of recipients three prospective draft agency request legislation proposals seeking feedback. One proposal concerned alcohol licensees and two were specific to the cannabis sector:
- The email noted: “If you have any feedback for the agency that you would like us to consider before we make any final decisions on what proposed language to submit, we will need to hear your thoughts by Friday, August 25, 2023 COB. This deadline will give the agency enough time to consider all comments and suggestions and hold internal discussions to determine potential revisions to these draft proposals. Our final proposals are due for submission to the Office of Financial Management and the Governor’s office in mid-September.”
- During that short window over the ensuing three weeks, agency staff planned to host “three question and answer sessions” via webinar to gather feedback and offer an opportunity for discussion.
- The subsequent webinars were scheduled for the morning of Thursday August 17th and the early evening on Monday August 21st.