Privacy issues at the forefront for Washington licensees
By Vicki Christophersen
There are clear parallels between the public conversation regarding liquor in the early 20th century and today’s policy debate about legalizing marijuana. People are talking about the risks, benefits and morality of growing and selling cannabis across the country, just as the repeal of Prohibition was debated in 1933. And that debate is still going on — 82 years after the ratification of the 21st Amendment to repeal Prohibition, there are still “dry” communities in our country.
Suffice it to say that while licensed producers, processors and retailers of cannabis have made tremendous strides over the past year and continue to be deeply engaged with regulators to build a strong industry, we are still at the very beginning.
The industry has to be even more focused today than it was one year ago. There are important ways that regulations can continue to support a safe, quality-controlled marketplace, but also strengthen the ability of licensed businesses to flourish. In the regulatory and legislative arena, the primary focus of professionals at every level of the industry continues to be safety and enforcement of laws that help keep marijuana out of the hands of kids, and ensures safe, tested products are available for medical marijuana patients. Policies concerning licensing, testing and examination of the economic impacts of the industry will continue to be discussed in 2016.
The Washington CannaBusiness Association has three primary priorities for the upcoming 2016 legislative session. The first is implementing the Cannabis Patient Protection Act, which was signed into law last April. There is a July 1, 2016 deadline to close unlicensed, unregulated and illegal collective gardens and dispensaries. By continuing to support and implement a safe, quality-controlled and regulated marketplace, Washington can continue to lead the nation with a legal marijuana industry.
A second legislative priority underscores issues of privacy for licensees. The process to become a legal, licensed cannabis business is rigorous. Specific parts of the application contain personal financial records of applicants and family members, and logistical information about facilities. This information should be sealed for the safety of prospective and current license holders and their employees.
Lastly, WACA supports the development of an independent, third-party economic analysis about the state of the cannabis industry in Washington. Understanding the impacts of legal marijuana on the economy is fundamental to calibrating current policy and informing and shaping future legislation.
On a regulatory level, our focus is on the nuts and bolts of a license-holder’s daily business — including codifying serving sizes to an acceptable range, standardizing lab testing and enabling producers and processors to conduct research and development on cannabis products. Additionally, enabling license holders to apply for more than the three licenses that are currently allowed ensures that proven, trusted businesses will constitute the foundation of the legal, regulated industry. The elimination of quarantine restrictions and sub-batching is also an important target.
It’s impossible to know if men and women who produced, distributed or sold whiskey in the 1920s ever anticipated that almost a century later, there would still be places in the United States that forbid liquor sales. Three years into our industry, all we can anticipate in the cannabis business is that the work ahead of us is immense and that working together on issues that affect the entire industry is the surest way forward.
Vicki Christophersen is the executive director of the Washington CannaBusiness Association.