Washington State Senate
(WA Senate)

Two new cannabis bills were pre-filed Friday, two existing bills were pushed back in the process, and the draft cutoff calendar was published ahead of the start of the regular session on Monday.

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.

State legislators would be prepared with details on cannabis revenues, appropriations, and retail theft while Ecology staff delayed accreditation rules to see how the session panned out.

Senate cannabis policy committee members planned to convene an interim work session on biometric age verification while the WSLCB board hosted regularly scheduled meetings.

The board was advised to amend an already active cannabis advertising bill rather than pursue a request bill on the topic in 2024 before hearing a short rulemaking update.

Legislators and agency staff were preparing for the shorter 2024 legislative session where organized retail crime and patient concerns would figure amidst cannabis related policymaking.

The group contemplated human safety guidance for different cannabis products, research on growing cannabis in contaminated soil, and implementing a new standard for THC detectability.

After a months-long search, a Colorado cannabis regulator was voted in as the new agency director to the satisfaction of board members.

Legislators struck and passed pre-negotiated legislation reframing the relation of the criminal justice and behavioral health systems to substance use issues which the Governor signed the same day.

The Governor provided insights about the revised “Blake fix” ahead of its release on Monday afternoon, prior to the convening of the first special session of the 68th Legislature.