The WSLCB was once again poised to cancel its public meetings for the week while the Department of Ecology’s Cannabis Science Task Force prepared to meet via webinar.
Here’s a look at cannabis-related policymaking events on Cannabis Observer’s calendars in the week ahead.
Tuesday April 14th
On Tuesday at 10am PT, the weekly Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Caucus was scheduled to recur.
- [ Event Details ]
- The last four regularly scheduled board caucus meetings have been cancelled. The Board last convened in caucus on Tuesday March 10th. At publication time, that was also the last time the Board met physically in-person.
- Governor Jay Inslee’s Proclamation 20-28 issued on March 24th temporarily modified the Open Public Meetings Act to prohibit agencies from conducting in-person public meetings through April 23rd. Inslee’s Proclamation 20-25.1 issued on April 2nd extended his Stay Home, Stay Healthy proclamation’s constraints on public movement through May 4th. And as WSLCB “Headquarters Building is currently CLOSED to minimize the spread of COVID-19,” the agency will not convene a public meeting in person for the foreseeable future.
Wednesday April 15th
On Wednesday at 10am PT, the bi-weekly WSLCB Board Meeting was scheduled to recur.
- [ Event Details ]
- The last four regularly scheduled board meetings have been cancelled. The agency last convened a board meeting for formal rulemaking on Wednesday February 5th. The agency called a first irregularly scheduled Special Board Meeting on Friday March 27th to conduct emergency rulemaking enabling retailers to defer excise tax payments and withdraw the CR-102 to pause the Quality Control (QC) Testing and Product Requirements rulemaking project. The agency called a second irregularly scheduled Special Board Meeting on Monday April 6th to conduct emergency rulemaking claiming a specific authority to suspend licenses to enforce Governor’s Proclamations, and delegated that authority to the Chief of Enforcement.
On Wednesday at 1:30pm PT, the three-member Board and agency leadership were scheduled to convene their weekly WSLCB Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting.
- [ Event Details ]
- The last eight regularly scheduled EMT meetings have been cancelled. The EMT last convened on Wednesday February 12th.
Thursday April 16th
On Thursday at 9am PT, the Department of Ecology (DOE) Cannabis Science Task Force (CSTF) Steering Committee planned to host its scheduled meeting through existing webinar infrastructure utilized since the inception of the Committee.
- [ Event Details ]
- The Cannabis Science Task Force Steering Committee is the leadership committee affecting the transition of responsibility for cannabis testing lab accreditation from the WSLCB to the DOE. In the absence of federal guidance, the Committee is also helping bolster cannabis testing lab standards.
- The CSTF Steering Committee last convened on March 27th.
- The Committee reviewed progress on the CSTF’s first report due to the Legislature on July 1st.
- The new Potency Work Group, led by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), announced its initial membership.
- The new Heavy Metals Work Group, led by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), was having trouble getting started. Medical Marijuana Program Operational Manager Shelly Rowden said “right now we don't have anything figured out" as the Department had not had capacity to make internal decisions about who would lead the work group due to re-allocation of resources towards the State’s COVID-19 response, it was claimed.
- The Department opened a CR-101 on February 25th to review the Medical Marijuana Consultant Training Certification Program after more than one year of persistentefforts by John Kingsbury, but action on the rulemaking project had been similarly deferred. During the CR-101 period, interested parties may send comments to medicalmarijuana@doh.wa.gov suggesting changes to WAC 246-72 as “The department will consider amendments that could provide clarification of a certified consultant's practice parameters, quality indicators that will promote necessary prevention messages, and additional training topics that should be offered by a state approved certified consultant training program.”