Terpenes that come from cannabis are allowed in marijuana vapor products, but the presence of terpenes derived from any other source is prohibited under the ban.

On October 9, 2019, the Washington State Board of Health (“BOH”) voted to adopt emergency rules banning flavored vapor products, including marijuana products, in Washington State. The ban is effective as of October 10 and will run for 120 days.

A study analyzing crime rates in Colorado and Washington suggests legalizing recreational marijuana has a minimal effect on crime rates, if any.

One argument for legalizing marijuana is the assumption that it would lead to lower crime rates—decriminalizing the drug, so the theory goes, removes illegal trade and the criminal activities that go along with it. Indeed, a study published in The Economic Journal in 2017 found that states on the US-Mexico border that legalized medical marijuana saw a decrease in violent crimes of 5.6 to 12.5 percent.

Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington directed health officials on Friday to ban the sale of all flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products in the state. In an executive order, the governor called on the state Board of Health to issue the ban, which is to include both nicotine and THC-based products, at its meeting scheduled for October 9. The ban would not go into effect until ordered by the board.

A Washington cannabis company has offered to collect and properly dispose of any waste from other marijuana stores.

KING-TV reported Thursday that Canna Culture Shop began the pot waste program early this week to help reduce the impact marijuana waste has on the environment.

Owner Maryam Mirnateghi says the program is meant to keep cannabis packaging from ending up on the street or in waterways.

Mirnateghi says the industry is expected to produce more than 1 billion pieces of cannabis packaging annually starting in 2020.

She says the program incentivizes customers by giving points to use on new purchases for each item of trash brought into the Seattle store.

Mirnateghi says anyone can bring in any cannabis trash from anywhere.

Five years after Washington launched its pioneering legal marijuana market, officials are proposing an overhaul of the state’s industry rules, with plans for boosting minority ownership of cannabis businesses, paving the way for home deliveries of medical cannabis and letting the smallest growers increase the size of their operations to become more competitive.

Liquor and Cannabis Board Director Rick Garza detailed the proposals — part of what the board calls “Cannabis 2.0” — in an interview with The Associated Press. It’s an effort to picture what the legal marijuana market will look like over the next five years, after spending the past five years largely regulating by reaction as the difficulties of building an industry from infancy absorbed the agency’s attention.

The potential tax revenue from the legalization of cannabis has been at the center of the argument between republicans and democrats. Proponents of legalization say states who haven’t legalized cannabis should look at the revenue generated from alcohol and other sin taxes as a window into what could be. 

Adult-use cannabis retailers in Washington sold an estimated 26 metric tons of cannabis and cannabis-infused products between July 1, 2016 and July 1, 2017, according to a report by the RAND Corporation.

The report, prepared for the Washington State Liquor and Control Board, determined that licensed retail sales doubled from the prior year. Nearly 70 percent of all cannabis sales were for marijuana flower.

RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF HEMP CBD AS A FOOD INGREDIENT AUGUST 1, 2019

Recent federal and state legislative changes regarding hemp have generated many questions about cannabinoid extracts, like CBD, and whether or not they may be used as ingredients in food products. To be clear, CBD is not currently allowed as a food ingredient, under federal and state law. 

Below is more information to explain what is allowed and what is not.

Software snafus in the massive database maintained by Washington state authorities to track cannabis through the regulated market gummed up the works last month — costing businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales and even causing some to furlough workers.

A recently published study has revealed a strange correlation between teens and marijuana use: teens with jobs are more likely to use cannabis than teens who are unemployed.

The study was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health and was conducted in Washington State. Led by Washington State University’s Assistant Professor Dr. Janessa Graves, the researchers analyzed data from 2010 and 2016 from the Healthy Youth Study, a study conducted yearly of 8^th, 10^th and 12^th graders. The study asks students questions about cannabis use over the last 30 days as well as their job information.