The Evolution of Cannabis Compliance in Washington
By Lindsey Weidenbach
On Friday, January 15th, The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (“LCB”) announced the creation of the Cannabis Compliance Consultant Team. The Team has eleven offices, including one in Wenatchee. The announcement states that the “goal of the Compliance Consultants is to help licensees understand and comply with state cannabis requirements, laws, and rules (RCWs and WACs) and to help licensees achieve and maintain compliance.” This is a much-welcomed change in tone from the LCB’s enforcement division and comes after legislative amendments to the cannabis law and rules.
When the cannabis industry was first launched, the LBC was overwhelmed with requests for licenses, bogged down by bugs in the traceability software, and under extreme public scrutiny. Compliance with the regulations seemed to be, at first, an after-thought.
After the initial license roll-out, enforcement seemed to be the LCB’s main focus. Each region has an Enforcement Officer who is assigned to oversee the licensed operations in their region. Enforcement Officers perform site checks and oversee changes to a license or a licensed premise. While on site, if an Enforcement Officer observed a practice in violation of the laws or rules, a license violation had to be issued. Violations range from fines, destruction of product, or the loss of the license itself.
No one argues that non-compliant operations should be held accountable. The problem with the enforcement practices during this time was that the interpretation of laws and rules seemed to change . Licensees often found themselves innocently out of compliance. Licensees were afraid to ask for clarification on rules and laws, fearing their question would result in an inspection and thus, the issuance of a violation. Enforcement Officers found themselves unable to offer a warning and had no choice but to issue the punishment in full.
During the 2019 legislative session, Washington passed Senate Bill 5318 which directed the LCB to shift its focus from enforcement to compliance. The laws and rules now allowed enforcement officers to issue warnings, providing a licensee time and opportunity to come into compliance. It was a much-needed reprieve for the small business owners in the cannabis industry. SB 5318 also directed the LCB to create the Cannabis Compliance Consulting Team, which is not promulgated under WAC 314-55-013.
The Compliance Consultants will provide support and technical assistance to help licensees comply with LCB rules and regulations. Compliance Consultants are not Enforcement Officers and cannot issue administrative violations. Other duties that can be performed by Compliance Consultants include:
Conducting final inspection and briefings - An important educational tool to help you get started in the marijuana industry.
Set up planned visits with marijuana licensees called “annual inspections” - They will walk through your business and identify compliance gaps and make suggestions on how to correct the concerns.
Assist in trainings for your staff members - Such as Responsible MJ Sales or reading IDs
Participate in industry association meetings - Discuss common problems or trends they see in the field so they can be addressed more consistently and on a larger scale rather than individually.
The creation of this Team does not mean that cannabis licensees have a free pass to violate the laws and rules. However, it does mean that the licensees can ask for help without fear of a fine, or loss of their business.