The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) licenses and regulates cannabis businesses and issues licenses, including licenses for producers, processors, retailers, researchers, and transporters. Licensed cannabis retailers may legally sell to a person who is 21 years of age or older, and a person who is 21 years of age or older may legally posses, any combination of the following amounts of cannabis products:
A person 21 years of age or older may transfer to another person or persons 21 years of age or older, within a single 24 hour period, for noncommercial purposes and not conditioned upon or done in connection with the provision or receipt of financial consideration, an amount of cannabis products equal to half of the possession limits for persons age 21 or over. The transfer must be in a location outside of the view of the general public and in a nonpublic place, or the cannabis or cannabis product must be in the original packaging as purchased from the retailer.
A 2019 Washington law regulating short-term rentals defines a "short-term rental" as a lodging use that is not a hotel, motel, or bed and breakfast, in which a dwelling unit, or portion thereof, that is offered or provided to a guest by a short-term rental operator for a fee for fewer than 30 consecutive nights. A short-term rental does not include any of the following:
Additionally, "operator" is defined under the 2019 law as any person who receives payment for owning or operating a dwelling unit, or portion thereof, as a short-term rental unit. The term "guest" is defined as any person or persons renting a short-term rental unit.
All moneys received by the LCB from cannabis-related activities are deposited in the Dedicated Cannabis Account, which is an appropriated account with a revenue distribution framework.
The Domestic Violence Prevention Account is an appropriated account in which a portion of certain court filing fees are deposited. Expenditures from the account may be used only for funding: (1) culturally specific prevention efforts and culturally appropriate community-based domestic violence services for victims of domestic violence from populations that have been traditionally underserved or unserved; (2) age appropriate prevention and intervention services for children who have been exposed to domestic violence or youth who have been victims of dating violence; and (3) outreach and education efforts by community-based domestic violence programs designed to increase public awareness about, and primary and secondary prevention of, domestic and dating violence.
An annual permit is established, to be issued by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB), to allow short-term rental operators to provide a complimentary, prerolled useable cannabis product, not to exceed 1 gram of useable cannabis for each prerolled useable cannabis product, to each rental guest who is age 21 or over. The annual permit fee is $75. A single permit applies to all rental properties owned or operated by a short-term rental operator and identified in the permit application.
Upon application in the prescribed form being made to an employee authorized by the LCB to issue permits, accompanied by payment of the fee, and upon the employee being satisfied that the applicant should be granted a permit, the employee must issue a permit to the applicant under LCB rules. For purposes of this new permit, the terms "short-term rental," "operator," and "guest" have the same meanings as in the 2019 law regulating short-term rentals.
Moneys collected from fees from the new permit must be deposited into the Domestic Violence Prevention Account.
Moneys received from fees for the new $75 annual permit for short-term rental operators must be deposited into the Domestic Violence Prevention Account.
(In support) This bill is inspired by House Bill 1731 that proposes a permit for short-term rental operators to provide a complimentary bottle of wine to guests who are age 21 or over. This bill brings parity by adding the ability for short-term rental operators to similarly obtain a permit to provide a complimentary, prerolled useable cannabis product to guests who are age 21 or over. The bill will assist small business owners who may unintentionally violate the law without knowing the activity of providing the complimentary product is illegal. The bill will also boost tourism and generate revenue for established programs. Ten years into cannabis legalization, aside from retail stores, Washington is not a hospitable place to cannabis consumers. Washington is not a leader in social use or responsible consumption policies. Looking at states that legalized cannabis after Washington, they found a way to allow cannabis consumption in nonresidential private places and even in some public spaces. Washington is losing huge amounts of tourism and economic engagement by not having responsible social use or consumption policies. This legislation is almost groundbreaking in allowing for any social use or consumption options outside of a person's private residence. Allowing short-term rental operators to provide a complimentary cannabis product to rental guests age 21 or over is a common sense policy. This moves cannabis consumption to a private place off of the street. There are several changes to make the bill even better. First, some guests may not want to smoke and would prefer a single-serving (10 milligrams or less of tetrahydrocannabinol) of an infused edible cannabis product. This could allow rental operators to maintain a nonsmoking policy while still offering this service. Second, rental operators providing this service should have to disclose to their guests how limited consumption is in Washington. We do not want people to think they can take a joint into a park, onto the street, or anywhere that is not a private residence, and legally consume the product. A final suggestion is to exclude any family day care or foster family home from eligibility if they are used as a short-term rental, which would align with a policy proposed in House Bill 1614 relating to the home cultivation of cannabis that would prohibit home grows in housing units used used by a family day care provider or a foster family home.
(Opposed) None.