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Things are developing rapidly on the COVID-19 front. Shortly after Monday’s blog post, Washington Governor Jay Inslee issued his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order (see the video here and the state’s COVID-19 general guidance here), which orders Washingtonians to stay at home except for essential activities, and for all non-essential businesses to close.…

UPDATE: Please see here for important updates to WSLCB policies.

COVID-19 created a state of emergency in the United States and around the world. Compounding the medical emergency is the economic one as the company faces a possible economic contraction not seen since the Great Depression; whole populations are being directed not to travel, restaurants…

The Washington State Legislature’s 2020 regular session is proceeding, and we will be covering bills as they develop. You can see Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Wednesday, February 19 was the house of origin cutoff, meaning generally that bills need to have passed out of their house of origin (House or Senate)…

The Washington state legislature is currently in session, and legislators have introduced numerous bills relating to the cannabis industry. While it is too early to know which bills will advance and which will not, below is a summary of two noteworthy bills generating buzz that was discussed last month in the Washington State House Commerce…

Last week, federal Judge Marsha Pechman sent an ominous signal regarding the enforceability of cannabis contracts by issuing an Order to Show Cause, in which the parties have to show why the court should not dismiss the case. If the parties cannot show cause under the Order, the case will be dismissed based on the…

On October 29th the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) released draft rules for hemp manufacturing and the state regulatory programs that oversee the industry with a press release. These rules will become effective when published in the Federal Register on Thursday, upon which a 60-day public comment period shall begin. At 161 pages…

On September 25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1595, also known as the SAFE Banking Act of 2019, which aims “to increase public safety by ensuring access to financial services to cannabis-related legitimate businesses and service providers and reducing the amount of cash at such businesses,” as stated in its purpose. The…

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (“WSLCB”) often moves slow with rulemaking (we’re still waiting on rules for SB 5318, which was signed into law in May and went into effect in July), but occasionally they move fast. As I reported last week, on October 9 the Washington State Department of Health…