Washington State Department of Agriculture
(WSDA)

By the end of Tuesday, Representatives tasked with oversight of the adult-use cannabis market were scheduled to have heard five bills and considered moving two in the first days of the week.

Companion “high THC” legislation was readied for the Senate, five additional bills were scheduled for committee actions, and two bills were poised for movement on Monday.

Leadership went over the first legislative briefing of 2024, including active bills and possible amendments, then heard about social equity applicants, education, staffing, and tribal updates.

Legislation on hemp extract as a food ingredient and a bill to shift authority from WSLCB to WSDA were ready for introduction, and substance use penalty language caught our attention.

Lawmakers reintroduced 2023 legislation, nudging one cannabis bill forward, and planned to introduce expansive new hemp processor legislation before hearing three cannabis-related bills.

As legislators made final preparations for the 2024 session starting on Monday, policy and budget bills had been pre-filed and committee schedules were being shaped.

Lab representatives and other stakeholders pointed out discrepancies, redundancies, and costs related to proposed lab quality standards leading staff to ultimately choose to rework the rules.

Updates to a more than five-year-old tribal compact, a rulemaking petition, and general public comments were on the agenda for the final board meeting of 2023.

Staff heard from a few attendees with lab experience about potential changes in rule from SB 5367, focusing on definitions for THC content and synthesized cannabinoids.

The post holiday calm before the 2024 legislative session allowed for the Department of Agriculture to host a public hearing on proposed rules for cannabis lab quality standards.