Next comes the public comment phase
The Marijuana Herald
The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) voted today to advance proposed rules allowing licensed marijuana growers to form agricultural cooperatives, moving the state closer to implementing a law designed to help producers work together to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
The Board approved the CR-102 rulemaking package implementing Engrossed House Bill 1941, which was signed into law in March and took effect June 11. Today’s approval moves the regulations into the formal public comment phase, with a hearing scheduled for December 17.
Under the proposed rules, up to three licensed marijuana producers or producer-processors could form an agricultural cooperative or association to collectively produce, process, handle and market their products. The arrangement would allow participating businesses to cooperate on activities such as drying, curing, packaging and labeling marijuana, concentrates and marijuana-infused products.
The regulations would also allow producers to share certain processing activities without requiring every participant to hold an individual processor license. However, members seeking to sell packaged marijuana products directly to licensed retailers would still need a separate processor license.
Several restrictions would apply. Cooperative members would be prohibited from mixing marijuana material owned by different licensees or using marijuana as a form of payment between members. Participants would also be required to maintain laboratory testing records and transportation manifests for products moved between licensed facilities.
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Washington Cannabis Board Advance Rules Allowing Producers to Form Agricultural Cooperatives