A majority of speakers favored legislation to create a cannabis commodity commission, but questions remained about costs, goals, and the inclusiveness with which the bill was drafted.
After pushback for not acting earlier, council members formally and unanimously endorsed all of the recommendations of the Washington State Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis.
As the 2022 Washington state legislative session began on Monday, 12 cannabis-related bills had been pre-filed for introduction and 7 would be reintroduced from 2021.
Board members expressed concerns about prospects for legislative action around synthesized cannabinoids, including mention of a potential competing bill.
Before the 2022 legislative session, WA SECTF recommendations may be formally endorsed and one prong of the WSLCB response to synthesized cannabinoids would likely be adopted.
There were no cannabis-related events scheduled for the final week of 2021, but new bills for the 2022 session continued to be pre-filed on topics including out-of-state ownership.
Aside from a WSDA public hearing on seed services, officials continued to pre-file legislation, analyze the governor’s proposed budget, and rest into the holidays.
In their final meeting of 2021, board members discussed a recent ride-along, a legislative proposal to overhaul the board from a cannabis trade association, and “collateral enforcement.”
Three senators offered their thoughts around cannabis policy and answered specific questions about potential bill subjects as well as the format of the 2022 legislative session.
Events were wrapping up for the holidays, but the transition to CCRS would keep the cannabis sector busier than usual checking lists twice before the shutdown of MJ Freeway on Saturday.
