The Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) publishes an annual report on its website that generally includes information related to taxes and fees collected and compliance rates and citations related to the sale or possession of liquor, cannabis, cigarettes, tobacco products, and vapor products.
The Healthy Youth Survey is a biennial survey administered to sixth through twelfth grade students in Washington that measures health risk behaviors including alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, and other drug use that contribute to illness, death, and social problems. The LCB supports the Health Care Authority (HCA)?Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery, the Department of Health (DOH), and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in the development of the Healthy Youth Survey.
The LCB, in consultation with the DOH, the HCA, and other necessary agencies, is required to publish in a conspicuous location on the LCB's website and annually update certain information related to compliance rates, citations issued, information reported to the LCB by other agencies, and the amount of taxes and penalties collected.
The information published on the LCB's website must separately identify all required information for each regulated substance and include:
The substitute bill requires that the information published by the LCB:
(In support) The LCB regulates a variety of substances in Washington, but there is not really a centralized location for the public to see aggregated data relating to the mission of the LCB. There is a lot of amazing data collected by the LCB that could increase transparency if it was made more readily available. Quality data in an accessible format is a great way to both tell the story of the cannabis industry, and to better inform the public and aid in the development of public policy. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee recently issued a report calling on the LCB to provide more information on how cannabis revenues are distributed. Public health and prevention professionals have discussed centralizing this information and believe that this organization of data and addition of transparency would be a good thing. This bill creates more transparency and disclosure about the regulated substances as well as the LCB mission for the public and licensees, and provides metrics that can be evaluated over time. The bill should be very specific about distinguishing between whether the data is just focused on substances in the regulated market or outside the regulated market. The bill could be improved with language to include economic indicators as well as data on inversion and diversion.
(Opposed) None.
(Other) The bill needs some clarifying language. Each substance should be reported separately and not in an aggregate format. Making sure the data is presented separately for each substance will make the data far more useful for the public.
(In support) Representative Kristine Reeves, prime sponsor; Lukas Hunter, Harmony Farms; Vicki Christophersen, Washington CannaBusiness Association; and Marc Webster, Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.