The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) rejected nine cannabis-related rulemaking petitions today, including seven seeking new accessibility standards for the state’s mandatory reporting system, one calling for emergency action over alleged problems with cannabis traceability and another seeking greater mobility for social equity marijuana licenses. The agency confirmed all nine denials following Wednesday’s meeting.
Eight of the petitions were submitted by six individuals between July 20 and July 31. Seven sought rules establishing accessibility standards for the Cannabis Central Reporting System (CCRS) to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), while the eighth requested emergency rulemaking to address alleged public health and safety risks involving CCRS and the state’s cannabis traceability system.
The ninth petition, submitted July 13 by David Rose, sought changes to Washington’s social equity marijuana licensing rules. Rose asked the board to provide greater mobility and flexibility for social equity license holders, including reducing or eliminating destination-county scoring requirements and allowing reasonable transfers or sales of licenses under regulatory oversight.
Rose argued that existing restrictions make it harder for social equity participants to build, operate or transfer their businesses and may result in different mobility standards for applicants from different rounds of the state’s Social Equity Program. Under the current system, some earlier applicants seeking to move into another county must have scored higher than the lowest successful applicant in that destination county.
The LCB rejected the petition. The agency’s September 2 rulemaking update lists the request to amend WAC 314-55-570 to address mobility of social equity licensees as denied. LCB data presented Wednesday show that three licenses from the earlier social equity application round have been issued using mobility provisions since changes took effect in 2026.
CCRS is the platform Washington marijuana licensees use to report information related to production, inventory, laboratory testing and sales. The system has been used for marijuana traceability since 2021.
In materials prepared for Wednesday’s meeting, LCB staff recommended denying the eight CCRS-related petitions, arguing that they were the same or substantially similar to requests the board previously rejected in May and June.
The seven accessibility petitions sought various actions involving CCRS, including enforceable accessibility standards, accommodations for individuals with disabilities and procedures governing the system’s use in enforcement actions.
LCB staff said an accessibility review conducted by the agency’s Communications Office found that CCRS “currently meets basic functionality required by ADA.” The agency’s Information Technology Services division is also developing a roadmap to bring CCRS into compliance with WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards that take effect April 24, 2027.
Staff argued that incorporating accessibility requirements into marijuana licensing regulations would be redundant because federal and state laws already establish accessibility standards for government agencies.
The eighth CCRS-related petition sought emergency rules based on alleged deficiencies in marijuana traceability and CCRS that the petitioner said posed public health and safety risks.
LCB acknowledged that a 2025 Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee study and a 2024 State Auditor report identified limitations with CCRS. The agency said it continues to make improvements to the system.
LCB also completed a feasibility study in 2025 and asked lawmakers to fund a standalone marijuana traceability and reporting system to replace CCRS. That funding request was not included in the state budget.
Staff said rulemaking would not resolve the software problems raised by the petitioners and argued that concerns about replacing or improving CCRS would be more appropriately addressed through the Legislature.
The agency noted that it received 17 CCRS-related rulemaking petitions between March 19 and July 31, with most seeking the same or substantially similar outcomes. Staff recommended denying all 17.
“Staff believe the appropriate approach to addressing the petitioner’s concerns related to software and systems is to explore the matter through the legislature,” the agency said, adding that changing regulations would not produce the requested improvements to CCRS accessibility or traceability reporting.
Petitioners argued that because CCRS is the mandatory system marijuana businesses must use to meet reporting requirements and maintain their licenses, the state should ensure it is fully accessible to people with disabilities and provide accommodations when barriers arise. They also argued that licensees should not face enforcement actions for reporting problems caused by accessibility limitations outside their control.
