Politics
Washington Officials Invite Public Comments On Proposal To Make It Easier For Medical Marijuana Businesses To Access Federal Rescheduling Benefits
Washington State regulators are accepting public comments on a proposal to a create process allowing marijuana businesses to document their participation in the medical cannabis market in order to ease their access to benefits that come with the Trump administration’s partial rescheduling move.
The Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) voted last week to move ahead with the plan, which is based on an advocacy group’s petition and comes after state officials said earlier this year that rescheduling cannabis on the federal level “does not appear to apply” to businesses in Washington.
Under an order issued by Attorney General Todd Blanche in April, marijuana products regulated by a state medical cannabis license immediately moved from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III, as did any marijuana products that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
While an administrative hearing is considering broader marijuana rescheduling, Washington businesses currently have no way to verify their medical cannabis-specific activities.
“Rules on this subject may be needed to consider the development and operation of a certification program for licensees participating in licensed medical cannabis activity in the state,” LCB said in an update after the vote. “This certification would serve to verify information about the regulated status of a cannabis licensee and confirm the extent of the licensee’s participation in existing state-authorized medical cannabis activities for federal registration, banking, insurance, or other lawful purposes.”
While board’s vote—which came over the objection of agency staff—is a win for petitioners The Cannabis Alliance and Caitlein Ryan, it is only the beginning of potential rulemaking.
“At this stage of the rulemaking process, no proposed language is offered,” LCB said in the Friday update. “Any interested party may comment on this possible rulemaking during the designated comment period.”
Stakeholders can weigh in on the potential rulemaking through December 4.
LCB said it “may coordinate with the Washington Department of Health and federal authorities such as the Drug Enforcement Administration to determine necessary documentation and verification of state-authorized medical cannabis activities of licensees,” though regulators in a growing number of states have complained that DEA has not been cooperative in providing guidance on complying with the federal marijuana rescheduling process.
In a previously issued guidance memo in June, LCB said that “Washington does not license medical cannabis producers, processors, or retailers.”
“Instead, Washington has a single recreational market and within that market producers/processors may manufacture [Department of Health]-compliant products, and certain retailers may sell DOH-compliant products to all adult patients and designated providers,” it explained.
“Because of this, Washington’s cannabis licensees do not appear to qualify as ‘state medical marijuana licensee[s]’ and therefore may not be eligible to register under the Final Rule,” the agency said, referring to a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration process for state-legal marijuana businesses to take advantage of federal benefits that come with the reform.
That said, LCB is “not taking a position to prevent licensees from applying for federal registration if they choose,” the guidance continued. “If any licensee does apply for federal registration, we would be interested in learning about their experience and any federal determination.”
Nonetheless, “based on our analysis, federal rescheduling in its current form does not appear to apply to Washington’s cannabis licensees due to the statutory framework predominately regulating recreational cannabis,” LCB said.
Washington isn’t the only state moving to reform its own marijuana rules in light of the federal rescheduling process.
In California, regulators recently adopted emergency rules changes for the state’s marijuana licensing process that are intended to make it easier for businesses to qualify for benefits in line with the Trump administration’s recent move to federally reschedule medical cannabis.
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
