With the close of the legislative session and restrictions on public movement tightening against the spread of COVID-19, cannabis policymaking appeared set to slow if not pause altogether.
Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on Cannabis Observer’s calendars in the week ahead.
Monday March 16th
On Monday morning at 11am PT, Washington Governor Jay Inslee and King County Executive Dow Constantine planned to host a press conference announcing additional restrictions on public movement “to escalate our response” to the continued spread of COVID-19.
- [ Livestream ]
- On Sunday night March 15th, the Office of the Governor announced in a press release and on Twitter and Facebook “we will temporarily shut down restaurants, bars, and entertainment/recreational facilities statewide.” Grocery stores and pharmacies were exempted, and the restaurant ban would not be applied to takeout and delivery services.
- The Governor’s statement noted, “Other retail outlets will have reduced occupancy.” The specifics of those restrictions, and their import for cannabis retail licensees, were unclear at publication time.
- Anecdotally, Cannabis Observer heard reports that cannabis retail establishments were witnessing extremes of consumer response. Some stores reported suppressed visits but higher basket totals. More often, retail licensees reported record sales comparable to April 20th revenues.
- COVID-19 Resources
- King County
- State of Washington
- U.S. Federal Government
- International
Tuesday March 17th
On Tuesday at 10am PT, the weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus was scheduled to recur.
- [ Event Details ]
On Tuesday at 1pm, the WSLCB planned to host a virtual-only Listen and Learn Forum on the Voluntary Compliance Program rulemaking project.
- [ Event Details ]
- Originally scheduled for Wednesday March 11th, the forum was rescheduled on Monday March 9th and changed to a virtual-only event in light of COVID-19 concerns.
- Under legislation enacted in 2019 (SB 5318), the WSLCB is required to develop a voluntary compliance program intended to give cannabis licensees an opportunity to request assistance from the agency in ensuring their business is in compliance with all relevant state laws and regulations, in most circumstances without the risk of receiving a violation just because help was requested and an enforcement officer was asked to review premises or business operations. The legislature directed the agency to create the program by rule in consultation with cannabis businesses and their employees.
- An external work group of self-selected participants met twice before the listen and learn forum on November 12th and February 24th to review v1.0 of the draft conceptual rules.
- On Wednesday, participants can provide feedback to the agency on v2.0 of the draft conceptual rules.
Wednesday March 18th
The bi-weekly WSLCB Board Meeting was cancelled.
- [ Event Details ]
- On Tuesday March 10th, the WSLCB Board decided to cancel the March 18th Board Meeting in light of COVID-19 concerns. An announcement of the change was emailed to stakeholders on Wednesday March 11th.
- The scheduled public hearing for the Quality Control (QC) Testing and Product Requirements rulemaking project was moved to the April 1st board meeting. The rulemaking project’s CR-102 was updated to reflect the revised dates and a notice of continuance posted.
On Wednesday at 1:30pm PT, the three-member Board and agency leadership were scheduled to convene their weekly WSLCB Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting.
- [ Event Details ]