The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (the “Board”) has just announced that it will be issuing more retail marijuana licenses this fall. Retail licenses will be issued based upon the merit criteria set forth in the Cannabis Patient Protection Act, which was passed earlier this year. These merit based criteria are discussed in my prior post here. There does not appear to be a limit on the number of retail licenses that the Board will issue either overall or on a county or city-wide basis.
The Board may also remove the 30% square footage cap on licensed marijuana producers. In other words, licensed producers may soon be allowed to expand their operations to the original square footage for which they applied (i.e. tier 1 producers will be allowed to utilize 30,000 square feet of canopy vs. 21,000). Additionally, producers who originally applied for 3 licenses applications may also be able to reactivate those license applications previously placed on hold by the Board.
Expansion of the State’s regulated marijuana industry will soon be occurring. Existing as well as prospective licenses should be prepare for these changes. Our fall seminar, which will cover the regulatory changes as well as financing of marijuana businesses, is nearly full. For more information and to register for our seminar, please rsvp here.
For more information on the regulation of marijuana businesses in Washington State, please contact Heather Wolf.