Black Excellence in Cannabis
(BEC)

After WSLCB and WA Commerce officials went through their responsibilities for the cannabis social equity program, two applicants aired grievances with how the program had been handled so far.

As legislators sought perspectives on contemporary cannabis policy issues and regulators willingly shared, a group of publicly-funded prevention researchers kept their doors closed.

Commerce officials planned to brief consultants interested in administering the social equity and community reinvestment cannabis grant programs for up to 1/10 of the total $9M allocated.

Board members delved into survey responses detailing selected social equity applicant demographics, then themes and possible improvements from their own staff focus groups.

The board approved the start of a rulemaking project on retail medical endorsements, heard a status report on social equity applicants, and impressions of an ongoing prevention summit.

After a brief rulemaking update, staff detailed a revised process for reviewing petitions before presenting a batch tracking request, then heard supportive and accusatory public remarks.

An update on retail social equity licensing preceded public comments that ranged from praise of the process to accusations of corruption and conflicts of interest.

A longtime employee was recognized, staff were working with the equity scoring vendor on acceptable documentation, and stakeholders wanted the agency to learn from past traceability efforts.

Staff went through subjects discussed during the CANNRA external stakeholder meeting, plus updates on licensing, social equity, and interest in a new traceability system.

Public commenters called for greater accountability over the social equity program third-party vendor, the board’s reasoning in hiring a new director, and an update on CANNRA meetings.