Nesteggg Accounting

  • Home
  • Services
    • Nesteggg Accounting
      • Payroll Services
      • Cannabis Accounting
    • Egggsact Tax, Inc.
    • Forms
      • Free Accounting Analysis
      • Business Services Agreement
      • New Corporation/LLC Request
      • New Account Setup
  • Contact Us

Marijuana Infused Edible Update – Washington

Marijuana Infused Edible Review Update

 

The Cannabis Alliance and the Washington Cannabusiness Association met with the Board and made its formal recommendations. The LCB has also received public input. Staff are currently reviewing the proposal and drafting a recommendation to the Board. That recommendation will be shared with the Board on Nov. 28, 2018.

Note to Retailers: If the packaging and product has already been approved by the Board, you may accept and sell at retail. 

 

Background
On May 2, 2018, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) adopted new rules regarding packaging and labeling of marijuana infused products. In order to lessen the impact to licensees, a phase-in approach was used with the adoption of Board Interim Policy BIP-05-2018 giving licensees until January 1, 2019 to become compliant. Due to feedback received about both the January 1, 2019 deadline and the marijuana infused edible product review, staff will bring a proposal before the Board to amend the interim policy date for full compliance to June 1, 2019. The Board will review the proposal at their October 31, 2018 meeting.

Some industry members expressed concerns following a marijuana-infused candy presentation at the regularly scheduled Board meeting. A message was sent soon after clarifying the agency’s process for product and label review. Since the announcement, agency staff have had additional conversations with industry members and industry trade organizations that requested the LCB halt its product review and allow time for stakeholders to be heard. Specifically, a coalition of CORE, the Cannabis Alliance and Washington Cannabusiness Association together formally wrote the LCB requesting the same.

The agency agreed to halt the product review for 30 days and announced during that time will accept input from licensees and trade organizations regarding alternatives for the agency to consider. Coalition members have indicated that they will be meeting later this month to discuss their proposal(s) and will present them to the agency. We will communicate the outcome of these discussions by Nov. 12, 2018.

The LCB will continue to accept label, package and product submissions prior to the newly proposed deadline. If you have infused edible products that are not presently being discussed for compliance, please submit them to labelapproval@lcb.wa.gov using the new requirements.

Allowed Pesticides for Use in Marijuana Production in Washington State

Updated List of Pesticides Allowed for Use in Marijuana Production

The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has recently updated the list of pesticides that are allowed for use in marijuana production in Washington State, based on criteria previously established by WSDA.

The WSDA has added 12 pesticides to the list of allowable products. Pesticides containing two new active ingredients (Cinnamaldehyde, Gliocladium catenulatum Strain J1446) were added to the list. Most of the pesticides that were added to the list contain active ingredients that were already allowed for use in marijuana production.

Some pesticides are labeled for application to soil or to crop plants, while some pesticides are labeled for application to both soil and crop plants (e.g., insecticides, fungicides). Other pesticides include herbicides labeled for direct application to, and control of, unwanted plants (i.e., weeds). Remember to read, understand, and comply with all applicable label directions and precautions when using any pesticide.

Added

  1. AZERA PRO, EPA Reg. No. 1021-1872
  2. DEADZONE, EPA Reg. No. 73729-1
  3. DESECT AG DIATOMACEOUS EARTH INSECTICIDE, EPA Reg. No. 7655-1
  4. PRESTOP WG, EPA Reg. No. 64137-13
  5. PVENT, EPA Reg. No. 64137-13-70299
  6. SEICAN, EPA Reg. No. 91473-2
  7. SLUGGO MAXX, EPA Reg. No. 67702-55
  8. CINNERATE, WA Reg. No. 998200-14001
  9. ELEMONATEM, WA Reg. No. 999860-16001
  10. HEDGE NATURAL DEFENSE PLANT PROTECTANT, WA Reg. No. 997420-18001
  11. PROCIDIC2, WA Reg. No. 999550-16002
  12. PURELY GREEN BIO-PESTICIDE SUPER CONCENTRATE, WA Reg. No. 84289-18001

You can find the complete list of pesticides that are allowed for use in marijuana production, the criteria WSDA used to establish the list, and information regarding statewide stop-sale orders in Washington on the WSDA web site.

 

Washington, adopted new rules regarding packaging and labeling of Marijuana Infused Products

On May 2, 2018, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) adopted new rules regarding packaging and labeling of marijuana infused products. In order to lessen the impact to licensees, a phase-in approach was used with the adoption of Board Interim Policy BIP-05-2018 giving licensees until January 1, 2019 to become compliant. Due to feedback received about both the January 1, 2019 deadline and the marijuana infused edible product review, staff will bring a proposal before the Board to amend the interim policy date for full compliance to June 1, 2019. The Board will review the proposal at their October 31, 2018 meeting.    

Some industry members expressed concerns following a marijuana-infused candy presentation at the regularly scheduled Board meeting. A message was sent soon after clarifying the agency’s process for product and label review. Since the announcement, agency staff have had additional conversations with industry members and industry trade organizations that requested the LCB halt its product review and allow time for stakeholders to be heard. Specifically, a coalition of CORE, the Cannabis Alliance and Washington Cannabusiness Association together formally wrote the LCB requesting the same.

The agency agreed to halt the product review for 30 days and announced during that time will accept input from licensees and trade organizations regarding alternatives for the agency to consider. Coalition members have indicated that they will be meeting later this month to discuss their proposal(s) and will present them to the agency. We will communicate the outcome of these discussions by Nov. 12, 2018.

The LCB will continue to accept label, package and product submissions prior to the newly proposed deadline. If you have infused edible products that are not presently being discussed for compliance, please submit them to labelapproval@lcb.wa.gov using the new requirements.

This Year Washington Might Legalize Cannabis Home Grow

This could be the year Washington state legalizes growing pot in your own home. Washington is the only state with a legal, recreational marijuana market that doesn’t allow recreational home grows.

Democratic State Representative David Sawyer backs new regulations on homegrown marijuana that he expects to be introduced in Olympia this year. He says he’s interested in having the most regulated home cultivation system in the country.

Sawyer: “Since we haven’t had directions from the federal government, we just have to use our best instinct about what we know, what we’ve learned from other states. We learned what not to do. Colorado had a limit of 99 plants and law enforcement had no way of taking down the illegal operations.”

In most states that allow home cultivation (including Colorado), the limit is currently six plants. Oregon caps it at four per household. Sawyer says Washington’s number could be between four and six.

Sawyer says there are many benefits to legalizing home grows, especially since some Washington cities still ban retail marijuana shops. He contends the black market is in control in those areas.

Sawyer: “If no other option exists, no retail store, a home grow is a way for at least some folks to provide their own marijuana without having to pay off a criminal element to give it to them.”

Federal officials tightened the rules on marijuana this month, but Sawyer says that won’t change the state’s plans. He says lawmakers are working with the state’s Liquor and Cannabis Board on the homegrown pot legislation. One option would require people to have a license for home cultivation, and another would have a plant tracking system.

 

Thanks to weedistry.com for content share

Washington state cannabis oversupply

Washington state cannabis oversupply spurs calls for change

 Washington state’s cannabis supply continues to swell, flooding the market and causing both wholesale and retail prices to sink.

After the October 2017 outdoor harvest – the state’s largest to date – Jim MacRae, owner of cannabis-focused business intelligence firm Straight Line Analytics in Seattle, says the market will have a 60% larger supply than in 2016.

With an ounce of legal marijuana flower selling for as low as $40 in the state’s retail stores, both shop owners and producers are seeking changes to Washington’s cannabis regulations.

Lawmakers and industry leaders are discussing ways to correct the market, including:

  • Reducing the amount of square footage growers are allowed.
  • Ending license transfers so when a business fails, its permit is no longer on the market.
  • Putting a moratorium on the approval of new licenses.

“Right now we have about three times more product than we have retail sales,” said grower Steve Fuhr, who owns Toucan Farms in Shelton.

‘Bloodbath of prices’

Fuhr said he’s struggling to get more than $1 a gram ($454 a pound) wholesale for the cannabis he grows.

“It’s a bloodbath of prices,” he added.

MacRae tallied the number of plants in spring to arrive at his estimate of a 60% larger supply.

“It’s the biggest harvest we’ve ever seen in the state,” he said.

“It’s unlikely that all of that is going to sell, and if it does, it’s going to sell at even further depressed prices.”

MacRae expects about two-thirds of the harvest will have difficulty selling through the regulated system.

Jeremy Moberg – president of the Washington Sungrowers Industry Association – wonders if prices have gotten so low that retail businesses are cannibalizing themselves.

“You can drive a mile from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board and buy a pretty good-looking ounce for $40,” added Moberg, also CEO of Cannasol Farms, a producer/processor company in Okanogan County.

“Half of the black-market price. That’s how bad it is.”

Logan Bowers, co-owner of Seattle retail shop Hashtag Cannabis, said his most expensive ounce sells for $420.

He also sells ounces at around $100 with tax and expects to begin selling ounces that maintain his quality standards for $75 in the next month or so.

Bowers said he’s heard of a few retailers selling ounces for as low as $40.

“But the quality is awfully suspect at that price,” he said.

Washington’s wholesale oil market is also impacted by the cannabis glut.

Much of the flower from the outdoor harvest isn’t pretty enough to be displayed on a store shelf, so it goes into the oil market.

Growers selling their trim for oil production have “seen that market crater,” Bowers said.

That’s led to lower prices for pre-rolls, for example, because processors are making joints from the flower they’d normally sell for oil production.

Diversion practices

When the price of a legal ounce of cannabis sells for less than a black-market ounce, the potential for diversion is no longer a risk, it’s a certainty, said Moberg.

Retail stores selling at the $40-$50-per-ounce price are moving 400-500 units a day to customers around Washington, Moberg added.

“This is clearly for diversion,” he said. “Is the store breaking the law? Probably not.

“The rule about looping is vague here, and there’s no enforcement.”

“Looping” is where a customer buys multiple ounces of cannabis in one day through repeated trips to the same store.

Colorado retail chain Sweet Leaf has been accused of allowing the looping practice.

Bowers said some industry insiders put a positive spin on the low prices by pointing out the state still receives tax revenue.

But it’s easy to make money selling those ounces across the border in a prohibition state, he added.

Neighboring Idaho, for example, doesn’t allow the sale of either cannabis recreational or medical cannabis.

“It’s important if we want our system to be successful that we be respectful of our neighbors,” Bowers said.

What can be done?

License holders understandably would like to see failing businesses taken off the market rather than have them gobbled up by a more successful company.

Such action would decrease competition and allow the existing businesses a larger market share.

Moberg believes this is the best solution for the supply problem.

“I’m going out of business competing against people going out of business,” he said.

With prices so low, a rash of companies are going belly-up.

But before closing their doors, owners put their licenses up for sale, which likely will fetch a hefty profit from a more successful business, according to Moberg.

The new owners typically have more business savvy and deeper pockets, Moberg added, so they’ll likely end up adding to Washington’s marijuana surplus.

Meanwhile, some business owners have called for the state to review canopy limits and consider reducing the cultivation facility size.

And, according to Bowers, the state’s cannabis board has begun looking into that exact issue.

Under the current regulations, each large-scale cultivation license (Tier 3) is allowed 30,000 square feet of canopy and each company can own up to three licenses.

That’s 90,000 square feet of canopy, which “grows a lot of pot,” Bowers said. “You only need about 270,000 square feet to grow for the entire state.”

There are currently about 1,100 growers in Washington.

“At the current limits that are licensed, we could grow enough (cannabis) to service California, Oregon and Washington combined,” Bowers added.

Moberg thinks reducing the canopy size is the wrong answer.

“Particularly when you haven’t done everything in your toolbelt to take care of the problem,” Moberg said. “The winners and losers all get hurt.”

Another looming problem: The state still has 77 outstanding production licenses from the original round of 2013 applications.

“Let’s stop adding any more,” Moberg said.

Thanks to Bart Schaneman @mjbizdaily for content share

Recent Posts

  • Economy Opening… Stop… Start…
  • Road Map to Opening
  • Tried Calling?
  • Free Credit Reports
  • CA License Extensions for Cannabis Business
  • What Are Libraries Doing Now
  • Cannabis Markup to Remain the 80%
  • Time to Retire?

Archives

  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018

Categories

  • Cannabis Compliant Accounting + Tax
  • NestEggg's Small Business HELP
  • News
  • Uncategorized

Stay Connected

Nesteggg Facebook

The Nesteggg Group ©2019
All Rights Reserved

Get in Touch

1127 St. Paul Ave
Tacoma WA 98421

1-(888) 987-NEST

accounting@nesteggg.com

Web Design & Maintenance by AquaZebra

constant contact

Copyright © 2023 · Executive Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in