Update on Cannabis Social Equity Rulemaking Timeline

As many of you may know, SB 5080 was passed in 2023 to expand and improve the Cannabis Social Equity Program. LCB is currently in the process of implementing the bill, and a big part of this step is writing and editing rules for the program.

Feedback sessions on the proposed rules for the Social Equity Program have wrapped up, and we heard your feedback! Given the number of responses, the rule development timeline was extended to allow time to thoroughly assess the feedback received.

This timeline change was announced in a GovDelivery message from the agency on Monday, June 3. Below is an excerpt from the message from Justin Nordhorn, Director of Policy and External Affairs:

“The LCB is committed to moving the Social Equity in Cannabis Program forward in a positive manner, and will be incorporating aspects of varying perspectives shared through the entire rule development process. Although not all feedback received can be adopted or included in future drafts, additional time is needed to appropriately evaluate feedback for including in the next rule draft, and eventual CR 102.

We thank you for your patience with the timeline extension.”

What are the next steps?

In the next two to three weeks, an updated rule draft should be ready for stakeholder feedback via a survey that will be sent out through our GovDelivery listservs. Feedback from the survey will be incorporated into the draft CR 102. Following the review period, a presentation of the CR 102 to the Board will happen on July 3 or 17, 2024.

Staying Updated

• Sign up for email updates about rule making activities and the opportunities for public engagement link here.
• Tune into the Board meeting tentative July 3 or 17, 2024 (depending on how long it takes to finalize the rule drafts and agenda availability) via TVW or Teams here.

Thank you for all the participation during the feedback sessions and rulemaking commenting period. We value your feedback. Please continue to monitor our blog for additional program updates and make sure you sign up for our GovDelivery listserv to get email updates here.