Washington to Issue New Social Equity Cannabis Licenses This Summer

The Washington Cannabis Social Equity Program will begin accepting applications for 52 new retail social equity licenses this June, Inlander reports. The licensing period will be open from June 2 to July 1

The Social Equity Program was established by lawmakers in 2020 to help address the inequality that has stemmed from cannabis prohibition policies. Officials awarded 45 licenses under the program in 2023 — those licenses, however, had previously been either forfeited or revoked. For the new licensing period, all of the 52 licenses will be new. Additionally, it will be the largest expansion of new licenses to the Washington cannabis industry since the state’s adult-use market launched over 10 years ago.

“We know that certain communities were disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs and are underrepresented in legal cannabis spaces, and so this program specifically seeks to award retail cannabis licenses to those who qualify for the program.” — Samatha Guter, Liquor and Cannabis Board communications consultant, via Inlander

Qualifying applicants must meet at least two of the social equity program’s four licensing criteria:

• Lived in an area disproportionately impacted by drug prohibition policies for at least five years between 1980 and 2010,
• Been arrested for or convicted of a cannabis offense (or is a family member to someone who was arrested or convicted for cannabis),
• Household income below the state’s median household income, or
• Be considered socially and economically disadvantaged under state law.

In March, Washington state cannabis regulators issued a sweeping recall of more than 500 batches of vape products manufactured by one of the state’s largest cannabis processors.