The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) will be rewriting its cannabis quality assurance testing and packaging rules, and regulators would like industry stakeholders to share their thoughts. The board cites “requests from the industry” and “changes in testing requirements in other states” as reasons for this impending policy amendment.



The WSLCB will be considering new rules for the following categories:

Lot and batch sizes;

Fields of testing and pass/fail level adjustments;

Potency testing requirements;

Pesticide testing requirements for all cannabis products;

Heavy metals testing requirements;

Sample deduction requirements;

General testing rule adjustments;

Product, THC serving limits, and packaging requirements; and

Other related rule changes that may be necessary or advisable.

“Additionally, the WSLCB has heard from the medical marijuana patient community that they would like to see additional product types or levels of potency that are not currently supported by the regulatory structure,” according to the statement.

The revisions will come more than four years after Washington began allowing regulated cannabis sales. Since then, the state has run into troubles with testing labs—the WSLCB audited labs last year, and the results weren’t great—and its track-and-trace program.

Elsewhere, other states have tightened their own cannabis testing requirements, putting a certain amount of industry-wide pressure on Washington to conform to evolving norms. California’s testing requirements are being phased in throughout 2018.

Comments are due to the WSLCB by Oct. 24. The final draft of rule changes, however, will be filed one week later, on Oct. 31. Send all comments to rules@lcb.wa.gov.

Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock