Today, the Washington State Liquor Control Board issued its notice of proposed rulemaking to inform stakeholders that the agency is in the initial stage of drafting rules to implement marijuana “producer” licenses and their requirements under Initiative 502. The Initiative was passed by Washington voters earlier this year. During this stage of the rulemaking process, the Liquor Control Board is seeking input on how the public thinks the licensing scheme should work and what type of regulations should come with it.

The Liquor Control Board is encouraging stakeholders to provide input on the marijuana producer license rules. According to the notice, the Rules Coordinator will set up at least two meetings to collect stakeholder input prior to drafting the proposed rules. The meeting schedules will be posted on the Liquor Control Board website once the dates are established. Following the comment period, the agency will send out and publish proposed rules on marijuana producer licenses, establish a comment period on the proposed rules, and hold at least one public hearing before rules are adopted.

The public must submit comments to the Liquor Control Board by mail, e-mail, or fax no later than February 10, 2013:

By mail:
Rules Coordinator
Liquor Control Board
P.O. Box 43080
Olympia, WA 98504-3080

By e-mail: rules@liq.wa.gov

By fax: 360-360-664-9689

As of today, the Liquor Control Board has only issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for marijuana producer licenses. Similar notices of proposed rulemaking for the “processor” and “retailer” licenses created by Initiative 502 are expected at a later date.