WA Legislature - Update
(January 11, 2024)

WA Legislature - Update (January 11, 2024) - Takeaways

Co-sponsors flocked to new legislation, WSLCB leadership discussed two active bills, a new high-THC bill was readied, and committee schedules for the following week were published.

Here are some observations of the Washington State Legislature (WA Legislature) for Thursday January 11th, the 4th day of the 2024 regular session.

My top 4 takeaways:

  • Legislation thus far introduced in the 2024 session had begun to accrue initial and additional co-sponsors, in some cases hinting at preparations for policy and fiscal committee consideration.
    • HB 2047 - “Allowing employers to screen candidates for cannabis use when hiring for certain positions involving services to persons with substance use disorder.”
    • HB 2151 - “Reassigning the accreditation of private cannabis testing laboratories from the department of ecology to the department of agriculture.”
    • HB 2182 - “Creating a data dashboard to track use of regulated substances.”
      • Original Sponsors: Reeves, Cheney
      • New Co-Sponsors: Leavitt, Reed, Callan, Sandlin
      • The legislation which would require the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) to undertake at least annual publication of extensive data on substance use in the state was attracting bipartisan interest, with four democrats and two republicans on board.
      • On Wednesday evening, it was announced that the bill had been scheduled for its initial public hearing in WA House RSG on Monday January 16th.
    • HB 2194 - “Legalizing the home cultivation of cannabis.”
    • HB 2255 - “Concerning inversion and diversion of cannabis.”
      • Original Sponsors: Waters, Wylie
      • New Co-Sponsors: Kloba, Davis, Cheney
      • Both co-chairs of WA House RSG and two Republican members support legislation directing WSLCB to more rigorously investigate inversion and diversion of cannabis into and out of the regulated market. Representative Lauren Davis, a democrat, has previously stated that she believes the Washington state cannabis sector is “a predatory industry…they’re preying on the vulnerable: the young, people of color, people predisposed to mental illness.”
    • SB 6133 - “Deterring robberies from cannabis retail establishments.”
  • Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) leadership convened on Wednesday afternoon and briefly discussed cannabis-related legislation within and adjacent to their authority.
    • Director of Legislative Relations Marc Webster was unavailable for the briefing which was led by Director of Policy and External Affairs Justin Nordhorn, a frequent visitor and guest at the Legislature.
    • After a briefing by Nordhorn (audio - 1m, Video - TVW), Chair David Postman inquired more deeply about SB 6077, Senator Bob Hasegawa’s legislation on “Regulating hemp in food.” Staff and leadership seemed unconcerned about the bill as it did not modify the definition of “Cannabis products” which had been revised the previous year to encompass retail sales of items containing “any detectable amount of THC.” Nordhorn pointed out the bill had a trailing provision concerning enforcement which could impact WSLCB staffing (audio - 1m, Video - TVW).
    • Board Member Ollie Garrett also inquired about the status of advertising regulation, leading Nordhorn to share details around SB 5363, reintroduced legislation “Concerning cannabis retailer advertising.” Following the decision to not pursue independent agency request legislation on the topic in 2024, staff had worked with the bill sponsor and stakeholders to craft potential amendments (audio - 4m, Video - TVW).
      • At publication time, SB 5363 had been recommended to the Washington State Senate Rules Committee (WA Senate RULE) but not yet moved to the Senate floor calendar for potential revision during a second reading.
  • On Thursday, Representative Lauren Davis planned to introduce HB 2320, “Concerning high THC cannabis products.”
    • Davis was joined by a bipartisan list of nine initial co-sponsors: Representatives Eslick, Bergquist, Callan, Dent, Dye, Senn, Leavitt, Harris, Ryu.
    • In the draft introduction report, the legislation was positioned for referral to WA House RSG.
    • The bill text indicates the legislation was intended as “AN ACT Relating to reducing the public health harms associated with high THC cannabis products by raising awareness, implementing and studying health interventions, and increasing the minimum legal age of sale of high THC cannabis products to prevent psychosis; amending RCW 69.50.357; adding a new section to chapter 28B.20 RCW; creating new sections; prescribing penalties; and providing an expiration date.”
    • The legislation draws liberally from the State-funded research undertaken by the University of Washington Addictions, Drug, and Alcohol Institute (UW ADAI), whose staff recently published a paper which I called out in comments to WSLCB board members on January 3rd for its conclusion that “Future studies should explore non-cannabis industry stakeholders’ willingness to work towards minimizing the influence of the cannabis industry in policy development processes to assure public health regulations prevail.” Davis’ legislation envisions more cannabis-related work and concomitant funding for UW ADAI researchers whose political entanglements appear to have unmoored their scientific and academic grounding.
  • On Wednesday evening, legislative staff announced preliminary schedules for the second week of the 2024 regular session - which notably did not include any planned activity in Senate policy committees.