Washington State Department of Health
(DOH)

Board members expressed their willingness to support multiple bills for medical cannabis patients and spoke at length about their approach to interacting with the state legislature.

The out-of-state ownership bill was heard, two seasoned bills were set for introduction, and medical cannabis patients would make their case for excise tax exemption in 2023.

Legislators continued to undertake cannabis bills slowly, especially in the senate, but perennial subjects like out-of-state ownership had been positioned for consideration.

With a review of scientific literature contracted, task force members detailed remaining concerns and discussed approaches to lobbying for draft legislation on hemp cannabinoids in food.

Staff provided updates on active and upcoming rulemaking projects before sharing details ahead of the inaugural meeting of the Quality Control Standards Work Group on Thursday January 5th.

The WSDA Legislative Liaison reviewed department work impacting hemp and cannabis rules before taking questions about staffing and issues expected in the 2023 legislative session.

A quiet week and close of year allows for some reflections on the cannabis sector, a goose that laid golden eggs for the State of Washington.

Cannabinoid regulation in the legislative session, the social equity program, CANNRA, and the traceability system were top-of-mind issues during the last agency public meeting of the year.

Task force members had few comments on the body of their final report, but several remarks on the appendices and supplemental data, ahead of submitting the report to lawmakers.

The principal researcher responsible for organizing the high THC cannabis symposium and delivering the policy report presented their findings from surveys of recruited stakeholders.