The Cannabis Alliance

Sharply divided testimony on a bill to add more members and non-voting legislators to the WSLCB board suggested the idea was controversial in both the cannabis and alcohol sectors.

Agency staff described six proposals they were engaged with in the second week of the legislative session, leading to a longer discussion about dueling synthesized cannabinoid bills.

Testimony on a craft cannabis endorsement was weighted in favor of those who saw the proposal increasing fairness in the cannabis market, but others were not so sure.

Some licensees, WSLCB staff, and prevention advocates encouraged lawmakers to pass request legislation on cannabinoid regulation, while other licensees preferred a competing bill.

A majority of speakers favored legislation to create a cannabis commodity commission, but questions remained about costs, goals, and the inclusiveness with which the bill was drafted.

As the 2022 Washington state legislative session began on Monday, 12 cannabis-related bills had been pre-filed for introduction and 7 would be reintroduced from 2021.

Cannabis trade associations shared their legislative priorities around out-of-state ownership, social equity, medical cannabis, and synthesized cannabinoids.

A request bill to modify the timeline for Ecology to take on lab accreditation was shelved following “stakeholder research,” while potential legislation to create a lab standards body carried on.

Director of Legislative Relations Chris Thompson went over the status of two potential agency request bills (lab standards, cannabinoid regulation) and an upcoming briefing to lawmakers.

CFO Jim Morgan told agency leadership CCRS remained on track and testing revealed no significant bugs; meanwhile, an informal integrator group formed to facilitate data exchange.