Cannabis Advisory Council 12/17/19 Thoughts and Observations

By
Lukas Barfield

           I attended the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board's (WSLCB) Cannabis Advisory Council for the first time as the "patient representative." The agenda for the two hour meeting included a speaker covering the vaping crisis, a overview of the Boards' priorities for the upcoming session and a presentation from other groups about their priorities in the 2020 legislative session. Although the Board and other members were very welcoming, I heard little at the Council that will benefit medical cannabis patients on the horizon. Here are some of my thoughts on the meeting.  

       In terms of patient safety the vaping presentation was alarming. According to the Board only 400 out of over 4000 "ingredient disclosure" forms have been turned in. These are forms the Board is asking, a little to politely imo, vape cart processors to turn in, disclosing the ingredients to their vape carts.  If ever there was an argument for separate medical cannabis products this is one. The Board seems to be unaware how dangerous unknown contaminants can be to people with severe health issues, or not care. There really seemed to be no sense of urgency on figuring out what is in the vape carts out there in the 502.

       The next agenda item revealed the Boards plan to help patients this session. The one bill they have for patients, which still has to be given the green light by the Governor, is to allow registered medical cannabis patients to buy directly from Tier 1 producers. Sort of a good idea, the plan in theory would help struggling Tier 1's and allow patients to buy from their favorite farm. This idea is rife with problems, the least of which is how are patients, who many can't drive, going to get out to the rural farms? And, where are all the registered patients asking for this. Hint, there are none.

          The final item asked Council members to present their priorities for the coming session. The Washington Cannabusiness Association offered up some awful legislation, trying to mask a corporate capital influx with an equity bill. bad idea. They also want to allow CBD only in 502 stores, another bad idea.  I did hear the words "farmer's market" from several groups.  My priorities included removal of the 37% excise tax on medical cannabis,  better legal protections for patients, clarification on designated providers and donation limits and education. I didn't' mention it, but homegrows are also on my priority list. What's some of yours. Send over any suggestions you may have to emailmmcws@gmail.com

        Overall, I came away from the meeting feeling like I do when I interact on this level with most able bodied people. They have no idea how to communicate with, talk about, work with or help people with disabilities . To me medical cannabis is first a disability issue, then a economic or farming issue. Definitely not a law enforcement issue as the Board seems to think. In short, they just don't get it. but, that's why I'm doing this. I want to help them get it and "yes", maybe the LCB will never get it, but just having more voices speaking up for patients will help in the long run.

Tell the WSLCB to Require Terpenes on Cannabis Labels

      The WSLCB is taking public comment on packaging and labeling rules. This would be a good time to let them know medical cannabis patients would be better served in the state if  producers and processors were required to put the top 3 terpenes on their labels. This would also help adult users get away from the sativa and indica guessing game in which bud tenders and consumers basically guess about the effects of a particular strain. By listing the terpenes, educated consumers would be able to choose exactly what they need/want when it comes to the effects of their cannabis.

       To contact the WSLCB and submit your public comment concerning terpene labeling on cannabis packaging, send an email to rules@lcb.wa.gov

Legal Clones Still not Easy to Find in WA

First published here
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/washington-patients-still-no-easy-access-to-seeds-clones/

      In Washington state, a medical cannabis patient who is registered on the Marijuana Authorization Database can grow up to six plants at home, while a qualifying patient who is not registered can grow up to four plants — but do medical cannabis patients in Washington really have legal access to seeds, clones, and plants?
We recently decided to check.
When Washington’s medical and adult-use cannabis systems were merged in 2015 with the passage of the Cannabis Patient Protection Act, activists quickly noticed the legislature forgot to include a way medical home growers could legally acquire plants for their gardens. So lawmakers passed a fix in early 2017: in their provision, registered patients can purchase seeds, clones, and small plants (while qualifying patients can buy seeds) directly from I-502 producers.
     Using a Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) list of licensed producers, we called a total of 40 producers from around the state, 20 from the four largest counties and 20 more from smaller counties throughout Washington.
Photo credit: Sarah Climaco
A large majority of the calls ended with an answering machine and no callbacks. Among those who answered, some had heard of the program but were not ready to sell to patients. A few had not heard of the new regulations but were open to eventually participating in the program. However, none of the contacted producers had concrete plans in place to sell to patients, and not one producer out of the 40 on our call list was able to provide clones at the time of our call.
“We don’t really feel the state has explained this enough,” said Rick Roening, a Spokane County licensed producer. “We worry about patients coming into the grow and bringing pests. There is also an extra security risk. We have genetics we’d like to keep under wraps, and no one has said what happens if our plants find themselves in illegal grows.”
“We just don’t feel the return is worth the risk right now, but if there is more clarification from the state we may be open to direct sales to patients at some point,” he said.
     While Roening was unable to provide us with any plants at that time, he pointed us in a direction that did yield, after another call and email, a Washington I-502 producer who is selling clones.
Crystal Oliver, President of Washington’s Finest Cannabis, said that they are ready to sell clones to registered cardholders and are happy to be helping: “We want to get our strains out to patients to help and to share our unique strains, their benefits, and our joy of growing them.”
“Many growers are abandoning diverse heirloom strains in favor of high THC, high producing cultivars, putting some strains in jeopardy of being lost forever. Not only does selling clones to medical home growers help those in need, but it helps keep cannabis biodiversity going in the state. Unfortunately, over-regulation is making this whole process more difficult than it should be,” Oliver said.
Photo credit: Sarah Climaco
     We asked the WSLCB what more could be done to help patients find the rare producers who provide this service. LCB spokesperson Mikhail Carpenter said there may be a way to inform patients about who is selling clones using the new data system set to come online January 1, 2018.
“At the moment, producers don’t have to say up front if they will sell clones to patients, but they must enter them into the traceability system once they are sold. The new system isn’t set up for this yet, but we may be able to do a data search after the fact for producers who have made this type of transaction. Then, provide those names on a list. This is something we are looking into,” Carpenter told Ganjapreneur.