The Week Ahead
(October 19, 2020)

WSLCB - Engagement - Prevention Roundtable (Oct 22, 2020) - Flyer

While most WSLCB events were cancelled, engagement with public health and prevention advocates continued in the weeks leading up to the Washington State Prevention Summit.

Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on Cannabis Observer’s calendars in the week ahead.

Monday October 19th

On Monday before 8am PT or thereabouts, community members in Cannabis Observer’s new Slack workspace received notice about the availability of this content on Cannabis Observer’s website. You’re invited to join us there.

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On Monday, staff of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) would be obligated to take an agency-wide furlough day in accordance with a cost-saving directive signed by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee on June 17th.

  • In August through November, the cadence switched from one agency-wide furlough day per week to once per month on third Mondays. The agency’s furlough days are marked on Cannabis Observer’s events calendar and our WSLCB calendar.

On Monday, the WSLCB COVID Legal/Policy/Rules Meeting was presumably cancelled.

Tuesday October 20th

On Tuesday at 8am PT or thereabouts, Cannabis Observer intends to publish our summary of the Washington State Health Care Authority (WA HCA) Impacts of Marijuana Legalization in Washington Webinar which occurred on September 29th.

The weekly WSLCB Board Caucus was cancelled.

On Tuesday at 2pm PT, a WSLCB Advocacy and Rulemaking Webinar was scheduled to train “community prevention and public health partners who are interested in learning how advocates can and do play an active role in the adoption of rules at the LCB.”

  • [ Event Details ]
  • This event, which was not published on WSLCB’s website nor their GovDelivery email service, was posted on the WA HCA Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (DBHR) Athena Forum, a message board described as “The site for substance abuse prevention and mental health promotion professionals and volunteers.”
  • The webinar was described as follows: “Kathy Hoffman, Policy and Rules Manager, from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board will highlight how rule making occurs and how coalitions can get involved in the rule-making process.  Participants will understand how rules are developed and influenced by advocates. Additionally, the presentation will address marketing advertising regulation and enforcement, accessing data sets and ways to advocate within the LCB rule adoption process.”
  • The post on the Athena Forum was made by user csteele, presumably Christine Steele, the co-host of the Impacts of Marijuana Legalization in Washington Webinar which Cannabis Observer intends to post a summary of earlier in the day.

Wednesday October 21st

On Wednesday at 8am PT or thereabouts, Cannabis Observer intends to publish our summary of the WSLCB Advocacy and Rulemaking Webinar which occurred on October 20th. Depending on the substance of the mid-afternoon event, we may push publication to Thursday morning.

On Wednesday at 10am PT, the WSLCB COVID Legal/Policy/Rules Meeting was scheduled to recur.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • Agency staff leadership, Board Chair Jane Rushford, and Assistant Attorney General Bruce Turcott convene multiple times per week via webinar to discuss policy-related questions raised in the context of the pandemic.
  • Originally having met daily every work day, the schedule of meetings was shifted to 3x per week (M, W, F) on June 10th.

The weekly WSLCB Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting was cancelled.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • The last 5 regularly scheduled EMT meetings have been cancelled. Although still listed as a weekly event, the Board had indicated these meetings would be hosted monthly through the end of the calendar year.
  • During the July 16th caucus, Board Chair Jane Rushford said “I feel it's important that we bring [EMTs] back” (audio - 2m). At the August 4th caucus, Rushford said EMT meetings would be renewed in September and run "once a month" through the end of the year (audio - 3m). The EMT last convened on September 16th after a 7-month hiatus.
  • During the September 29th board caucus, Chair Jane Rushford mentioned her interest in focusing the next EMT “mid-month” on the agency’s social equity efforts. At publication time, those opportunities to convene the EMT had passed - and the October 28th EMT was also already cancelled.

Thursday October 22nd

The WSLCB Prevention Roundtable scheduled to occur in-person in Vancouver was cancelled.

  • [ Event Details ]
  • In mid-July, WSLCB Executive Assistant Dustin Dickson mentioned “prevention roundtables and outreach” had been planned for October and November.
  • Found through a subsequently deleted post on the WA HCA Athena Forum, the Eventbrite registration states: “Please join WA State Liquor and Cannabis Board Chair, Jane Rushford, for a Prevention Roundtable in Vancouver on October 22nd from 10a-12p. See attached flyer for further information and share widely. This has been rescheduled from its original April date. We want to hear from you about how LCB's regulations and the products we regulate are impacting you and the communities your [sic] serve. This will be a roundtable discussion and Q&A session. Please submit possible topics to discuss here.”
  • Cannabis Observer reached out to WSLCB Public Health Education Liaison Sara Cooley-Broschart to validate the in-person event was still occurring. She replied, ‘We are in the process of coming up with new dates from the SW Region LCB-Prevention Roundtables, most likely late November or mid December. And it will, indeed, be virtual. I’ll send out a “postpone” message to those registered via Eventbrite when I have the new date.’
  • The increased outreach and engagement with public health and prevention community stakeholders was scheduled prior to the Washington State Prevention Summit organized by WA HCA and virtually hosted this year on November 3rd and 4th.
    • WSLCB typically sponsors and presents at the annual Prevention Summit. Following her participation at the previous Summit in November 2019, Rushford said there had been 400 attendees and “wonderful speakers.” She said that she, Broschart, and Policy and Rules Coordinator Janette Benham gave a workshop on the agency’s rulemaking process which “went really well” (audio - 1m).

Friday October 23rd

On Friday at 8am PT or thereabouts, Cannabis Observer intends to publish our summary of the WSLCB BIPOC Engagement which occurred on October 12th.

On Friday at 10am PT, the WSLCB COVID Legal/Policy/Rules Meeting was scheduled to recur.