WA House RSG - Committee Meeting
(January 16, 2024) - HB 2320 - Public Hearing

A new bill to raise the age limit on cannabis concentrates and require additional educational resources received support from prevention groups but opposition from cannabis stakeholders.

Here are some observations from the Tuesday January 16th Washington State House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee (WA House RSG) Committee Meeting.

My top 4 takeaways:

• HB 2320, “Concerning high THC cannabis products,” was outlined for lawmakers in a briefing by Committee Counsel Peter Clodfelter (audio - 1m,  Video - TVW).
  • Using the bill analysis, Clodfelter hit the major points of the legislation:
    • Includes legislative intent related to high-THC cannabis policy and funding, and requires the Department of Health to develop optional training for retail cannabis staff about health and safety impacts of high THC cannabis products.
    • Increases the minimum legal age of sale of cannabis products with a THC concentration greater than 35 percent, to be age 25, with an exception for qualifying patients and designated providers.
    • Requires the University of Washington Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute (ADAI) to develop and implement guidance and health interventions for health care providers and patients at risk for developing serious complications due to cannabis consumption, with reports to the Legislature, and subject to funding.
  • Besides the legislative reports, Clodfelter mentioned how the “guidance and health interventions could also be used by [the Washington Poison Center (WAPC)] and recovery hotlines to promote cannabis use reduction and cessation.”

• Representative Lauren Davis introduced her bill as an improved iteration of her mission to improve health outcomes for young adults by confounding access to cannabis concentrates (audio - 4m, Video - TVW).
  • At time of publication, Davis worked as the Strategic Director of the Washington Recovery Alliance (WRA) and had a history of advocacy related to substance abuse treatment.
    • In 2022, Davis addressed researchers at the UW ADAI symposium on “High-[tetrahydrocannabinol] THC Cannabis in Legal Regulated Markets,” and spoke about her legislative efforts along with criticisms of the cannabis industry.
    • She’d sponsored earlier measures which aimed to restrict the production or sale of cannabis concentrates, most recently two bills heard by WA House RSG in February 2023.
    • Plant cannabinoid levels had been reported as a research concern as far back 1980, though cannabis prohibition had a poor track record when it came to accurately monitoring potency before then, or in stopping increases in substances’ concentration.
  • Introducing HB 2320, Davis said this was her fifth attempt to “address this issue of the public health harms of high potency cannabis products.” She noted the first two attempts had included “a potency cap” which hadn’t gained traction with legislators. She’d then secured funding for UW ADAI staff to “look at what science would suggest are public health levers that we could pull to address these harms short of a potency cap.” Davis noted the recommendations were published in December 2022 and she’d done her best to put them into legislation the following year. “Unfortunately, none of the bills that I've worked on have advanced out of committee,” she remarked.
    • Davis explained how she was trying to codify “that the cannabis that we have that’s sold today is an entirely different drug than the cannabis plant that voters legalized in 2012.” She argued that cannabis items in the former criminal market harbored “less than 10% [THC], in the state of Washington today it's up to 99% potency.”
    • The concentration of THC was attributed to differing health impacts she categorized as “physical health impacts, primarily something called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome…also mental health issues, primarily psychosis and psychotic disorder, and then finally cannabis use disorder (CUD).” Davis pointed to newly published research which suggested a “50% increase in cannabis related diagnoses between 2019 and 2023 related to these high potency products.” She attributed this change to “adolescents and young adults being particularly susceptible to health impacts, and those concerns are often dismissed by the industry” since cannabis wasn’t legal for those under 21. However, she said responses to the state’s Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) “and other sources [showed] the products that adolescents and young adults are using are in fact from the legal market, and they are products that were not accessible prior to legalization in the high potency form.”
    • Having worked in the substance prevention field, Davis compared profligate use of concentrates to the opioid overdose epidemic, “and by the time we call something an epidemic it's too late.” Rather than overdose deaths, she referred to a “schizophrenia epidemic,” citing a Wall Street Journal article about underage cannabis use which warned “we're just making this huge population of people who we can no longer fix.” Davis urged her colleagues to “give this legislation serious consideration this year and to move something out of committee.”

• Several members of public health and substance prevention organizations lauded the bill, asserting it helped the public and health practitioners reduce youth health consequences of concentrates.
  • Linda Thompson, Washington Association for Substance Misuse and Violence Prevention (WASAVP) Board Member (audio - 1m, Video - TVW)
  • John Daviau, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Director of State and Local Affairs (audio - 2m, Video - TVW)
    • Calling SAM a “leading voice on the harms of marijuana commercialization,” Daviau said restrictions on “potency caps [had been] gaining some traction across the country, both with states that have already legalized marijuana, and with states that are considering legalization.” He associated cannabis concentrate products with public health concerns around “schizophrenia and psychosis, road safety, homelessness, and crime issues.”
    • Additionally, Daviau felt that "because of brain development" going "until about the age of 25,” HB 2320 aimed to restrict concentrate access until that age, stating “early onset of schizophrenia [was] happening with young adults as well as children.” Sharing his interest in “the issue of the reduced potency caps that this bill, 2320, suggests,” he asked lawmakers to make Washington “a role model for the country in setting some standards for more optimal THC potency on products.”
    • Representative Davis was a founding member of the Leadership Council of the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions, a think tank offshoot of SAM operated by the same staff. Generally opposed to commercial cannabis markets, SAM Founder Kevin Sabet pushed against concentrates in other states, though he was found to have misled audiences in 2016 regarding edibles, and the organization has faced accusations of perpetuating false statistics on the societal costs of legalization.
  • Jordan Davidson, SAM Government Affairs Manager (audio - 2m, Video - TVW)
    • Dasvidson acknowledged he was there on behalf of SAM, “but perhaps more importantly I'm a young person in addiction recovery. I struggled with a cannabis use disorder over five years ago.” Having sought treatment at age 17, he’d been sober since December 2018.
    • Wanting to “paint a picture of what's going on in the country and in Washington,” he cited US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) cannabis potency data, and a 2017 study finding that “marijuana use among eighth and tenth graders increased following Washington State's recreational marijuana legalization law,” and mentioned a 2020 paper to allege legalization in Washington had “predicted a more than six times likelihood of self-reported past year marijuana, and more than three times likelihood for alcohol use.” Recognizing the state’s reputation as a leader in cannabis legalization policy, Davidson urged lawmakers to pass HB 2320 “to take that bold leap to do the right thing for our youth, to do the right thing to protect the kids.”
      • HYS statistics from the Washington State Health Care Authority (WA HCA) in 2019 showed a modest decrease in eighth and tenth grade cannabis use following legalization. However, 2022 research indicated that self-reported use among young adults increased once they were legally allowed to possess cannabis products.
    • Davidson’s SAM profile indicated he worked in “Connecticut politics” before joining SAM in 2019, having sought addiction treatment two years before that state legalized cannabis for those over 21.
  • Beatriz Carlini, UW ADAI Research Scientist, ADAI Cannabis Education and Research Program (CERP, audio - 1m, Video - TVW)
    • Carlini testified that while studying “survey data from 2700 Washington State cannabis consumers, I learned that 32% of them were harmed by…their cannabis use” with effects like “panic attacks, fainting, vomiting, hallucinations, psychosis, and flashbacks.” Under a fifth of those surveyed “felt so bad that they went to [an] emergency room or called a poison center for help,” she added, arguing this was the result of “a state that has not actively curved cannabis products containing 60 to 90% THC.” Concentrates at this level were “harmful and they should not be consumed by people under 25 years of age,” she said.
      • WSLCB leaders discussed the survey with the lead researcher in November 2022.
    • Carlini voiced her hope that the legislation could contribute to developing “health programs and clinical guidance to prevent psychosis among consumers” of concentrates.
      • At time of publication, a fiscal note had not been published for HB 2320. However, mandates for UW ADAI would continue a series of budget provisos Davis secured for the organization to look into cannabis potency policies in addition to their recurring funding for “creation, maintenance, and timely updating of web-based public education materials providing medically and scientifically accurate information about the health and safety risks posed by cannabis use” as a statutorily mandated by RCW 69.50.540.
    • Chair of the 2022 symposium on high-THC products hosted by UW ADAI, Carlini had been one of the Institute’s top researchers of public and expert opinion on cannabis concentrates. In April 2023, she hosted a webinar on “Addressing the Risks of High THC Cannabis - The Public Health and Legislative Saga” where she discussed her work and personal advocacy of Davis’ prior bills.
  • Denise Walker, UW Research Professor and Innovative Programs Research Group Director (audio - 2m, Video - TVW)
    • Noting she was speaking in her personal capacity, Walker mentioned her work with the Washington State Health Care Authority Prevention Research Subcommittee (WA HCA PRSC) when they produced a 2020 consensus statement related to cannabis concentration health risks. Walker affirmed research had suggested “high potency THC increases the risk for both addiction to cannabis and psychosis particularly for youth and young adults.” She found this was impactful since areas of the brain “responsible for decision making and planning, things like that, continue to be developed into our late 20s…well beyond the current legal age of sale for cannabis products.”
    • Walker considered the substance treatment field to be “clamoring for science-based information,” commenting that she’d had “multiple requests from organizations on training on cannabis,” as well as “conducted focus groups with providers, family members, and patients and the resounding message [was a] need for science-based information.”
      • Cannabinoids have continued as one of the most common drugs in research literature. According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), in 2020 “a record 3,500+ scientific papers on the subject of cannabis, according to data compiled by the National Library of Medicine and PubMed.gov…Since 2010, scientists have published over 23,000 peer-reviewed papers specific to cannabis, with the annual number of total papers increasing every year. By comparison, researchers published fewer than 3,000 total papers on cannabis in the years between 1990 and 1999 and fewer than 2,000 total studies during the 1980s.” They subsequently found this increased by over 3,800 new citations in 2021.
    • Co-Chair Shelley Kloba asked about harm reduction, observing the “quality of what information is being conveyed is very important and sometimes looking at harm reduction is something we're seeing more and more effectiveness in but can you speak to how it might fit in this bill?” Walker praised the aspects of the bill that would further education and intervention approaches, stating that she’d been “developing interventions and for specifically young adults with early psychosis who are using cannabis and harm reduction is part of that intervention and part of the work that we do with them.” She favored abstinence, but it’s “not the path that everybody takes. But part of those messages are ‘please use lower potency products, please use products that have a more of a balance of THC and CBD [cannabidiol].’” Walker continued, saying she was working with clients in the regulated market “who didn't know the things that they could do to reduce their harm of a rehospitalization [or] worse outcomes from their psychosis. So I think it can be and should be part of the education and messages that needs to be developed and promoted” (audio - 2m, Video - TVW).
    • Walker presented on “Risk of High THC Concentration for Young Adults with Psychosis: Intervention Implications” at the UW ADAI symposium in 2022.
  • Beth Ebel, UW Pediatrician and Washington Chapter of the American Academy of PediatricsBoard of Trustees President (audio - 2m, Video - TVW)
    • Considering HB 2320 to be "reasonable guardrails to guide safer use,” Ebel echoed the health concerns over use of concentrates by minors and young adults. She recognized that some opponents were “suggesting that we should just talk on education, [but] regulation works. That is the powerful piece that made a difference for tobacco. And the education is focused on letting people know about the regulation,” Ebel said, asking for action against the “significant risk” posed to children and young adults.
    • Representative Greg Cheney asked Ebel a question about HB 2194, “Legalizing the home cultivation of cannabis,” another bill being heard by committee members in that meeting (audio - 2m, Video - TVW).
  • Mary Lou Dickerson, Former Washington State Representative (audio - 2m, Video - TVW)
    • Dickerson explained she’d supported cannabis legalization, but since then she saw “very high potency pot has been developed. It's a way different beast than the cannabis of 2014.” She believed some product types “spell serious trouble for a lot of people, adolescents and young adults especially, and we can't be blind to that.” Dickerson conveyed that the 2020 consensus statement “opened my eyes and it convinced me to support this bill.” As a lawmaker, she said she’d “focused most of my efforts on the well-being of young people and young adults. And that's what this bill would do.”
    • Representative Eric Robertson commented on his first term in the legislature with Dickerson (audio - 1m, Video - TVW).
  • David Coffey, Recovery Cafe Executive Director (audio - 2m, Video - TVW)
  • Ryan Orrison, BRIDGESExecutive Director (audio - 2m, Video - TVW)
    • Orrison described himself as a substance use disorder professional running a “Seattle alternative peer group” for youth. They alleged “the folks…against this bill are the folks that are making money off of this. The folks…for this bill are health care providers, doctors and people that care for the wellness of our children and young people.” Promising to share “a host of different studies” to reinforce his point, Orrison claimed “it's easy to see that this is the next step for us…saying that they're gonna get it from…the streets or from other from other places is, is disingenuous because if we sit here and we don't do anything then we're culpable in the damage.” They reiterated that the committee should favor “information and the testimony provided by experts in the field, people that care about the kids, and measure that against folks that…are trying to make money.”
    • Co-Chair Sharron Wylie asked Orrison and others to keep in mind legislators were “very careful to not question motives in our discussion and in our testimony” (audio - <1m, Video - TVW).
  • In addition to the ten people that requested to testify in favor, two individuals signed in to support the bill; SAM representatives Davidson and Daviau registered their enthusiasm five times together (Testifying, Not Testifying).

• Several representatives of the cannabis sector and a consumer advocate opposed HB 2320; they viewed raising the purchase age of concentrates as a “prohibition” which wouldn't be more effective than prevention education and enforcement of existing laws.
  • Lukas Hunter, Harmony Farms Director of Compliance and Government Affairs (audio - 2m, Video - TVW)
  • Ezra Eickmeyer, Producers Northwest Founder (audio - 2m, Video - TVW)
    • Calling the proposal “a huge improvement from last year,” Eickmeyer said he was still against raising the purchase age as that was “not going to work...we've raised the age of tobacco use to 21 nationally and teenage tobacco rates in general across the country [were] still going up.” He hoped to see better prevention approaches for those under 21, otherwise “some industry is going to sprout up to get it to them.”
    • The “parts of the bill I love and that we've been saying we support for so long” included taking “funding of education programs for youth prevention, really, really seriously. And this is where we have a proven track record of success.” Eickmeyer pointed to a “huge tobacco settlement” in 1997 won by then-Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire which resulted in “giant well-funded campaigns,” followed by “tobacco use rates plummet[ing] across the country.” He felt the “biggest issue [was] the low perception of harm” among youth that needed better answers than raising the concentrate purchase age over 21. Insisting that “there's nothing you can do on the supply side to change things,” he asked the committee to “please pass a modified version of the bill.”
  • Bailey Hirschburg, Washington Chapter of NORML and consumer advocate on the WSLCB Public Education Work Group (audio - 2m, Video - TVW).
    • Encouraging review of written comments he’d emailed members, Hirschburg also considered there to be “merit in the educational components and in some of the workforce training components,” yet found “the age limit for concentrates really smacks of cannabis being held to a different standard than liquor, than other things like tobacco, or even gambling.” These were also behaviors he claimed research had “shown to be incredibly problematic, particularly when a person starts doing them early in their life,” and that “a lot of the problems that we've talked about actually relate to teenagers who are starting to use some of these very potent products.” Hirschburg wanted prevention education to also address “parents and family members and peers on not supplying these products,“ arguing licensed retailers had “good track records of not making…any type of cannabis [available] to youth,” whereas supply by older acquaintances was a more common avenue for access.
    • Representative Tina Orwall, speaking as a “mental health professional” familiar with evidence of cannabis consumers in their 20s having psychiatric disorders, wondered whether Hirschburg had heard about “some populations that would be more impacted by the higher concentrations” of THC (audio - 2m, Video - TVW).
      • Hirschburg responded with his understanding that “people in poverty have…worse health outcomes, people with no health care have—probably not shocking—worse outcomes when they start using these products earlier in their life.” He further felt “if you're seeing a psychotic break” of a person in their 20s, they were more likely to have initiated substance use in their teen years. He conceded a person in their mid-20s may have “had a couple of crazy years” of heavy cannabis use, “but unfortunately the people I have met that have those kinds of problems were people who started as teenagers.” Hirschburg then pointed to a 2014 study of treatment admissions indicating the “vast majority of them are people that did begin using a substance before 21.” For individuals who avoided substance use before this age, “I know that there's more information about that for alcohol than there is for cannabis, but my understanding is that trend still holds true, so that's where…the focus [sh]ould be on this.”
  • Caitlein Ryan, The Cannabis Alliance Executive Director (audio - 1m, Video - TVW)
    • “It's frankly challenging to address the multitude of demonstrably false assertions upon which this proposed legislation is predicated, let alone collaborate in seeking meaningful ways to address the very real concern here,” Ryan commented. She noted that all types of concentrates had existed to different degrees on the “legacy market” prior to the licensed adult use industry, some “as long as humans have consumed cannabis, which is to say as long as there have been humans.”
    • Ryan also challenged proponents’ assertion that “cannabis causes schizophrenia,” arguing it “has been proven a false causality, and is at most a correlation” by citing a 2023 Journal of the American Medical Association article regarding schizophrenia diagnoses and associated health care utilization, which reported “no statistically significant increase in psychosis-related diagnosis and prescriptions in states where cannabis was legal for adult and/or medical use compared to states that prohibited cannabis.”
  • Vicki Christophersen, Washington CannaBusiness Association (WACA) Executive Director (audio - 1m, Video - TVW)
  • Micah Sherman, Raven Co-Owner and Washington Sun and Craft Growers Association (WSCA) Board Member (audio - 1m, Video - TVW)
    • Recognizing that people had concerns about public health, Sherman viewed the “biggest drug policy failure [from] a public health perspective is prohibition. Most harms from drugs comes from the war on drugs and the policies that we've created in response to them.” For him, HB 2320 was “a continuation of that same policy.”
    • Considering approaches to the “new era of legal cannabis with manufactured products,” Sherman felt the bill would “just continue to push products into the illicit market, including synthetic cannabinoids that we've been having tons of problems with” and “exacerbate those sorts of issues” without solving the problem “that is purportedly being brought as the concern.” He agreed with others that educational improvements were more feasible, “and hopefully we can talk about how do we address these issues for real.”
  • Becca Burghardi, Northwest Cannabis Solutions Assistant Director for Research and Development (audio - 2m, Video - TVW)
  • In addition to the eight people testifying against the bill, 39 individuals signed in as opposed (Testifying, Not Testifying).

Information Set