A House panel in Washington State took another step toward allowing interstate cannabis commerce on Thursday, advancing a Senate-approved bill that would one day enable businesses in the state to import and export marijuana products.<\/p>\n
The bill, SB 5069, from Sen. Ann Rivers (R), would give the governor the authority to enter into agreements with other legal states to permit interstate trade between licensed cannabis companies. But it would take effect only if there\u2019s a federal law change \u201cto allow for the interstate transfer of cannabis\u201d between legal businesses or if the U.S. Department of Justice issues an opinion \u201callowing or tolerating\u201d marijuana commerce across state lines, according to the measure\u2019s text.<\/p>\n
If either of the two federal conditions listed in the bill are met, state regulators would be required to provide written notice of the federal policy change, as well as any state-level \u201cstatutory changes necessary to authorize the sale, delivery, and receipt of cannabis\u201d from out-of-state companies. Regulators would also need to adopt necessary rules for cross-border trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt prepares us to be on a level playing field with other states should the federal government make some different decisions than what they\u2019ve been able to do so far,\u201d Rep. Sharon Wylie (D) said of the bill at Thursday\u2019s hearing of the House Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee. The panel voted 8\u20132 to advance the bill, with one member excused.<\/p>\n
Republicans split their votes on the proposal. Rep. Jim Walsh (R) said he was a \u201csoft no,\u201d saying he had concerns that the bill gives the executive branch power to enter into marijuana trade agreements. \u201cNot that I would want a special session to make this decision if the feds change their plan,\u201d Walsh said, \u201cbut I would like to sort of protect the legislature\u2019s ability and discretion to make these calls.\u201d<\/p>\n
The legislation was approved by the full Senate earlier this month<\/a> after\u00a0clearing required committee stops in February<\/a>. Meanwhile, companion legislation was filed in the House<\/a>, but lawmakers there have instead opted to proceed with the Senate-passed vehicle.<\/p>\n Under SB 5069<\/a>, products that come from out-of-state businesses would be required to comply with Washington regulations, including those related to packaging and labeling.<\/p>\n The House panel was set to consider<\/a> an amendment to the legislation from Wylie, but the lawmaker withdrew her proposed change ahead of Thursday\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n The change, which Wylie had successfully added to the companion bill in the House, would have added a provision to specify that coordination and enforcement of interstate commerce must be consistent with Washington\u2019s \u201cpolicies and programs to redress inequities that exist from past cannabis prohibition and enforcement laws\u201d and include \u201csteps to ensure equity in the application of agreements at all levels and in all jurisdictions.\u201d It also would have expanded the bill\u2019s notification process following any federal policy change.<\/p>\n Ahead of the Senate floor vote earlier this month, Rivers, the bill\u2019s prime sponsor, called Washington\u2014which legalized cannabis for adults through a ballot initiative in 2012\u2014\u201ca leader in the cannabis industry.\u201d But at the same time she warned that the state\u2019s industry \u201ccould be left in the dust if we\u2019re out of town and unable to take action\u201d when federal law changes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that legalization on the federal level is coming. We\u2019ve seen bills introduced and it feels like it\u2019s getting closer,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cSo we can entrust our governor to look out for this industry and make sure that business can flow from our state to other states and back to us in a legal way, in a safe way and in a way that can be enforced.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0Washington State legislation\u00a0represents\u00a0the latest state-level attempt to prepare for eventual interstate cannabis commerce, even as marijuana remains federally prohibited. California\u2019s governor\u00a0signed a similar measure last year<\/a>. Before that, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D)\u00a0signed interstate marijuana commerce legislation<\/a>\u00a0into law in 2019.<\/p>\n On the other side of the country,\u00a0New Jersey\u2019s Senate president filed a similar proposal<\/a>\u00a0last year, but it has not yet been enacted.<\/p>\n Meanwhile in Washington, a House committee earlier this week advanced legislation that would protect job applicants<\/a> in the state from being discriminated against for using marijuana. The bill, which already passed the full Senate last month<\/a>, would forbid most employers from rejecting applicants simply for testing positive for cannabis on pre-employment drug tests. Workers could still be fired for a positive marijuana test that occurs after they\u2019re hired, however.<\/p>\n Lawmakers in the state have considered numerous cannabis and drug policy bills this session. One set for committee action next week would further study the therapeutic use of psilocybin<\/a>.\u00a0And last month lawmakers again declined to act a proposal to legalize the home cultivation of marijuana<\/a>, meaning that growing plants for personal use remains a felony in the state.<\/p>\n Lawmakers In Three States Advance Bills To Legalize Safe Drug Consumption Sites<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The post Washington House Panel Approves Senate-Passed Bill To Allow Interstate Cannabis Commerce<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A House panel in Washington State took another step toward allowing interstate cannabis commerce on Thursday, advancing a Senate-approved bill that would one day enable businesses in the state to import and export marijuana products. The bill, SB 5069, from Sen. Ann Rivers (R), would give the governor the authorityContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62965"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62965"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62966,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62965\/revisions\/62966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Washington House Panel Approves Senate-Passed Bill To Allow Interstate Cannabis Commerce<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"