The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (“WSLCB”) announced this Wednesday, January 18, that the 30 day window to apply for a Washington Social Equity In Cannabis Retail License will open March 1, 2023.
The WSLCB will reissue 44 retail licenses to qualified applicants that rank the highest on a points scale to “prioritize” applicants. The licenses will be anchored to specific counties. As a refresher, we’ve been following the developments in Washington’s efforts to add Section 570 to Washington Annotated Code (“WAC”) Title 314-55 from the draft rules and their issues, the final (and unchanged) rule, and the recently released, rather unhelpful Disproportionately Impacted Area (“DIA”) mapping tool.
The license application process will be completed electronically on the WA Department of Revenue’s business licensing system, though it is not currently available on the DOR’s website.
Washington social equity cannabis license eligibility criteria
To qualify for a license and before being ranked according to the point system, an applicant must be a Washington resident, must own at least 51% of each social equity retail business, and the person or persons owning the business must meet at least two of the following qualifications:
- the applicant has lived in a DIA in WA for a minimum of 5 years between 1980 and 2010;
- el solicitante o un miembro de su familia haya sido detenido o condenado por un delito relacionado con el cannabis; o
- los ingresos familiares del solicitante durante el año anterior a la presentación de la solicitud fueron inferiores a la mediana de los ingresos familiares en el estado de Washington.
While it is not listed specifically as a qualification, applicants must also submit a “social equity plan” describing how they will meet social equity goals, “applicant’s personal or family history with the criminal justice system, including any offenses involving cannabis” and a “business plan involving partnerships or assistance to organizations or residents with connections or contributions to populations with a history of high rates of enforcement of cannabis prohibition.” WAC 314-55-570(h)((i).
RCW 69.50.335 defines Social equity goals as “(i) increasing the number of marijuana retailer licenses held by social equity applicants from disproportionately impacted areas; and (ii) reducing accumulated harm suffered by individuals, families, and local areas subject to severe impacts from the historical application and enforcement of marijuana prohibition laws.” Having a social equity plan will impact eligibility and ranking so it is important for applicants to put the time in to create one.
Washington social equity cannabis license scoring rubric
Once found eligible according to the criteria above, applicants are ranked in order of priority based on a scoring system.
| Requisitos de admisión | Escala de puntos |
| 1. Haber vivido en una zona desproporcionadamente afectada (DIA) | 40 |
| 1a. ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas viviendo en una DIA?
5-10 años = 10 puntos Más de 10 años = 20 puntos |
40 |
| 2. ¿Ha sido condenado por un delito relacionado con las drogas? (Autocuestionario) | 10 |
| 2a. ¿Ha sido condenado por un delito relacionado con el cannabis? (Autocuestionario) | 40 |
| 3. ¿Ha sido condenado por un delito relacionado con las drogas? (Familia) | 5 |
| 3a. ¿Ha sido condenado por un delito relacionado con el cannabis? (Familia) | 5 |
| 4. Si fue condenado por un delito relacionado con el cannabis, ¿qué tipo de pena le impusieron?
Multas = 10 puntos Tiempo cumplido en libertad condicional = 20 puntos Confinado en casa = 40 puntos Haber cumplido condena en la cárcel o en prisión = 80 puntos |
80 |
| 5. ¿El hecho de que usted o un familiar suyo estuviera en prisión le impidió conseguir un empleo? | 5 |
| 6. ¿Ha perdido su vivienda o la posibilidad de comprar o alquilar una vivienda como consecuencia de sus condenas o detenciones? | 5 |
| 7. ¿Es la renta de su hogar inferior a la renta media de los hogares del estado de Washington, según los cálculos de la Oficina del Censo de los Estados Unidos? | 40 |
| 8. ¿Era usted propietario o gestionaba un dispensario de cannabis medicinal o un huerto colectivo, con licencia comercial, antes del 1 de julio de 2016 (10 puntos)?
O ¿Ha sido propietario y ha gestionado un dispensario de cannabis medicinal o un huerto colectivo con licencia comercial en una DIA (30 puntos)? |
10
30 cm de diámetro |
| 9. ¿Ha tenido o tiene actualmente una participación mayoritaria (del 51 %) o una participación de control en una licencia estatal de venta al por menor de cannabis (marihuana)?
No = 10 puntos Sí = 0 puntos |
10 |
| TOTAL POINTS (out of 310) |
Washington social equity license restrictions
If a license is be granted, there are license restrictions Washington social equity cannabis applicants should know about. The more heavy-handed (and unnecessary) restrictions are:
- No se permiten cambios en la titularidad de la solicitud una vez que haya sido revisada;
- No se permite el cambio de domicilio fuera del condado en el que se expidió inicialmente la licencia;
- No se permite la transferencia ni la subrogación de licencias durante el primer año desde su expedición, y todas las licencias de equidad social solo podrán ser transferidas o subrogadas a una persona o personas que cumplan la definición de solicitante del programa de equidad social durante los cinco años siguientes a la fecha de aprobación de la licencia.
These restrictions dramatically reduce the transferability of a social equity license, which are hard to transfer as it is. As we wrote on this issue last year “Many licensees will build their businesses into prosperous enterprises and this rule knee-caps their ability to sell them in the already highly (and unnecessarily) restricted WA market.” The eligibility and ranking criteria have their own issues, but the license restrictions are only going to hurt licensees–the very people the rule is intended to serve.
Still interested?
Applicants who are interested in applying for these licenses can find certain informational materials on the WSLCB website and attend a few upcoming webinars. This process may be made more complex by the possibly of lawsuits being filed to challenge certain aspects of the rule. If that happens, it could freeze or complicate the application process so staying up to date with developments from the WSLCB will be important. As usual, we will also be writing about them here.
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