Archive for Washington State Liquor Control Board
Judge Calls State Cannabis Board Actions 'Arbitrary & Capricious'
May 24, 2016 420leaks I-502, Integrity Check, Public Records, Washington State Liquor Control Board No comments
John Worthington is asking for your help in his lawsuit against the Washington State Liquor Control Board over the corruption of the rules making process. He needs to file an appeal this week and needs our help to come up with the money.
https://gofundme.com/27zwpsk
John had a recent victory in Superior Court after the LCB ruled against him. The Superior Court judge viewed the LCB' s dismissal as "arbitrary and caprecious", and remanded it back for a new hearing.
You can read the details of this case below.
John's expenses include a $290 filing fee due this week. He will also have about $600+ to pay for a copy of the administrative records to be sent to the courts.
We are asking for $1000 to give John the cash he needs to continue this fight to expose this corruption of the process, bringing much needed sunshine on this subject.
Thank you for your continued support. This is your chance to help John make history! Please contribute today so he can get the filing fee paid by Friday, June 10 at the link here: https://gofundme.com/27zwpsk
420leaks Press Release
John Worthington (Plaintiff, 420leaks contributor)
worthingtonjw2u@hotmail.com
John Novak (witness, 420leaks editor)
420leaks@gmail.com
Subject: Judge Calls State Cannabis Board Actions 'Arbitrary and Capricious'
In October of 2014, Olympia resident Arthur West obtained public records from the Washington State Liquor Control Board showing that there were 17 secret public meetings held during the rulemaking for I-502. [1]
During the West lawsuit, the Washington State Liquor Control Board tried to argue there was a working copy of the I-502 rulemaking file, but that argument was denied by the Thurston County Superior court.
Soon many other public records from the West case made its way to 420leaks.com [2], a site that gathers public records and other information regarding marijuana.
In these documents were evidence of a partnership between many groups, including treatment professionals, law enforcement organizations, the Association of Washington Cities, other notable non-profit government groups, and the Washington State Liquor Control Board. [3]
After reviewing many documents of the partnership's conduct during I-502 rulemaking, John Worthington of Renton filed a lawsuit challenging the acts of the partnership during the rulemaking process in January of 2015.
Worthington requested to review the I-502 rulemaking file used to develop I-502 rules and was told that the original rulemaking file no longer existed, but that a "final" copy of the rulemaking file was made available to him. Several other researchers made the same request and were given differing results.
He then requested an electronic copy through the public records act and was told he was given the "initial" copy of the rulemaking file.
At that point, Worthington filed a petition to adopt, amend and repeal with the Washington State Liquor Control Board and asked them to repeal the rules for I-502 because they tampered with the rulemaking file after the rules for I-502 were made.
Worthington made a rules challenge pursuant to RCW 34.05.375, which challenges the validity of rules that are not developed properly by adhering to several statutes. One of those statutes is the rulemaking file.
The Washington State Liquor Control Board ruled Worthington did not cite any specific rules to be repealed and also ruled they followed the proper procedures for rulemaking outlined in RCW 34.05.375.
Worthington filed a judicial review of that decision. [4]
On May 6, 2016, the Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Hirsch ruled the agency decision to deny the petition was arbitrary and capricious and remanded the matter back to the Washington State Liquor Control Board. [5]
Worthington was not satisfied with the decision, as the court had not made a ruling on the rules validity challenge and requested the trial court to answer the issue of whether there was such a thing as a "final" copy of the rulemaking file. He also asked the court to determine if the rules could still be valid without an "original" rulemaking file.
The court would not rule on that issue despite the fact the issue was before the agency and argued in three briefs to the trial court.
It was reasoned that Worthington had not objected to a rulemaking file not being placed into the agency record.
Worthington's position is that the agency had the responsibility to provide the rulemaking file for a rules review.
He also argued the Washington State Liquor Control Board has admitted the original rulemaking file does not exist, so it is futile to add a final copy to the record.
Worthington also feels the remand to the agency is futile because they have already admitted once the board developed the rules, Karen McCall, the rules Coordinator at the time, permanently altered the rulemaking file, and thus invalidated the rules for I-502.
Now he has to file an interlocutory appeal with the Appellate court in an attempt to get a court to answer the question no court seems to want to answer.
Is there such a thing as a "final" copy of a rulemaking file, and are the rules for I-502 invalidated because the Washington State Liquor Control Board rules coordinator decided to remove documents from a rulemaking file after the board had made rules?
To make matters worse, the original board, consisting of Sharon Foster, Chris Marr, and Ruthann Kurose have admitted under oath they never authorized a "final" or "working" copy of a rulemaking file. Even worse yet is that removing public documents is a class C felony.
As of now, justice seems to elude Worthington and the Washington State justice system has appeared to suborn felony crimes, enabling the Washington State Liquor Control Board to make a mockery of the rulemaking process, without any real consequences other than giving them another chance to lie their way out of being held accountable.
Perhaps a billion dollar industry is special enough to warrant such special treatment, but to the rest of us that are expected to pay traffic tickets and obey the law it is a slap in the face.
[1] Judge Finds WSLCB Broke the Law 17 Times Making I-502 Rules:
http://420leaks.com/?p=631
[2] 420leaks.com Public Records Database from Arthur West:
https://app.box.com/s/46qnsr90gnnazb3d2r0t/1/2878026511
[3] I-502: OPMA, MMJ, Public Records and the "Partnership":
[4] Motion to the court:
https://app.box.com/s/46qnsr90gnnazb3d2r0t/1/2733141802/62085057609/1
[5] Judge's signed order from May 6:
https://app.box.com/s/imhug87958zp2cbeggildistb50k25nj
All 420leaks public records available at
https://app.box.com/s/46qnsr90gnnazb3d2r0t
Was I-502 Tax Money Not Distributed as Voters Intended?
October 2, 2015 420leaks I-502, Washington State Liquor Control Board No comments
By John Novak
It appears that no tax money was ever paid out as intended by the voters for I-502. The WSLCB has stated in a public records request response that they've "…performed a search of our records including inquiry to the Finance Division for the WSLCB. We have discovered no records that are responsive to this request, as the Finance Division has indicated to us no such disbursements have occurred to date."
No disbursements?
Where did the money go? That's over one year's worth of tax money, around $70 MILLION, promised to different stakeholders that endorsed and supported the initiative during the I-502 campaign.Two days after this response from the WSLCB, I see this headline:
Vancouver to receive $790,000 in pot excise taxes
What happened to the $70 million collected the first year?
"According to the state Liquor and Cannabis Board, the total marijuana sales (sale price plus tax) from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, tallied almost $260 million. Of the $6 million in marijuana excise taxes Washington state will distribute this fiscal year, cities will receive 40 percent, and the counties will receive 60 percent."
So the WSLCB has been sitting on it until the legislators changed the statutes so law enforcement and the cities would get your tax dollars instead.
That is not what the voters wanted back in 2012 and unless they plan to pay those original earmarks this sounds to me like a fraud on taxpayers. Although with the way laws are written, it's probably legal.The question is, who decided this policy of withholding funds and when was it decided? What about the other $63 Million?According to the initiative as passed by the voters, the WSLCB has control over these funds…
NEW SECTION. Sec. 26. (1) There shall be a fund, known as the dedicated marijuana fund, which shall consist of all marijuana excise taxes, license fees, penalties, forfeitures, and all other moneys, income, or revenue received by the state liquor control board from marijuana-related activities. The state treasurer shall be custodian of the fund.
(2) All moneys received by the state liquor control board or any employee thereof from marijuana-related activities shall be deposited each day in a depository approved by the state treasurer and transferred to the state treasurer to be credited to the dedicated marijuana fund.
(3) Disbursements from the dedicated marijuana fund shall be on authorization of the state liquor control board or a duly authorized representative thereof.
Section 28 lays out how the tax money will be used…
NEW SECTION. Sec. 28. All marijuana excise taxes collected from sales of marijuana, useable marijuana, and marijuana-infused products under section 27 of this act, and the license fees, penalties, and forfeitures derived under this act from marijuana producer, marijuana processor, and marijuana retailer licenses shall every three months be disbursed by the state liquor control board as follows:
(1) One hundred twenty-five thousand dollars to the department of social and health services to design and administer the Washington state healthy youth survey, analyze the collected data, and produce reports, in collaboration with the office of the superintendent of public instruction, department of health, department of commerce, family policy council, and state liquor control board. The survey shall be conducted at least every two years and include questions regarding, but not necessarily limited to, academic achievement, age at time of substance use initiation, antisocial behavior of friends, attitudes toward antisocial behavior, attitudes toward substance use, laws and community norms regarding antisocial behavior, family conflict, family management, parental attitudes toward substance use, peer rewarding of antisocial behavior, perceived risk of substance use, and rebelliousness. Funds disbursed under this subsection may be used to expand administration of the healthy youth survey to student populations attending institutions of higher education in Washington;
(2) Fifty thousand dollars to the department of social and health services for the purpose of contracting with the Washington state institute for public policy to conduct the cost-benefit evaluation and produce the reports described in section 30 of this act. This appropriation shall end after production of the final report required by section 30 of this act;
(3) Five thousand dollars to the University of Washington alcohol and drug abuse institute for the creation, maintenance, and timely updating of web-based public education materials providing medically and scientifically accurate information about the health and safety risks posed by marijuana use;
(4) An amount not exceeding one million two hundred fifty thousand dollars to the state liquor control board as is necessary for administration of this act;
(5) Of the funds remaining after the disbursements identified in subsections (1) through (4) of this section:
(a) Fifteen percent to the department of social and health services division of behavioral health and recovery for implementation and maintenance of programs and practices aimed at the prevention or reduction of maladaptive substance use, substance-use disorder, substance abuse or substance dependence, as these terms are defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, among middle school and high school age students, whether as an explicit goal of a given program or practice or as a consistently corresponding effect of its implementation; PROVIDED, That: (i) Of the funds disbursed under (a) of this subsection, at least eighty-five percent must be directed to evidence-based and costbeneficial programs and practices that produce objectively measurable results; and (ii) Up to fifteen percent of the funds disbursed under (a) of this subsection may be directed to research-based and emerging best practices or promising practices. In deciding which programs and practices to fund, the secretary of the department of social and health services shall consult, at least annually, with the University of Washington's social development research group and the University of Washington's alcohol and drug abuse institute;
(b) Ten percent to the department of health for the creation, implementation, operation, and management of a marijuana education and public health program that contains the following: (i) A marijuana use public health hotline that provides referrals to substance abuse treatment providers, utilizes evidence-based or research-based public health approaches to minimizing the harms associated with marijuana use, and does not solely advocate an abstinence-only approach;
One Year Of Legal Marijuana Generated $70 Million In Tax Revenue For Washington State
Posted: 07/06/2015 6:50 pm EDT
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/06/washington-marijuana-taxes-70-million_n_7737722.html
Published: October 1, 2015, 6:36 PM
http://www.columbian.com/news/2015/oct/01/vancouver-to-receive-800000-in-pot-excise-taxes/
House Bill 2136 (Effective date 7/1/2015) – Concerning comprehensive marijuana market reforms to ensure a well-regulated and taxed marijuana market in Washington state.
http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2015-16/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/House/2136-S2.SL.pdf
Initiative 502 – Full copy of the initiative as passed by voters in November, 2012
http://www.newapproachwa.org/content/initiative
Full response from the WSLCB via email about my public records request:
From: missy.norton@lcb.wa.gov
To: changingplanet@hotmail.com
Subject: FW: Amended Request RE: WSLCB PRR 15-07-123
Dear Mr. Novak:
This letter further responds to your public records request.
The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) received the attached public records request from you on July 22, 2015. We first wrote to you regarding your request on July 29, 2015. We received your amended request on July 30, 2015.
You have phrased your amended request as follows: "This is a public records request for all official public records of disbursement of funds, any warrants, vouchers, receipts, checks issued and communications about same under I-502. The dates I am requesting is everything between January 1, 2012 to present, in electronic format, if possible." You also attached as a reference two statutes: RCW 69.50.540 ("Marijuana excise taxes – Disbursements") and RCW 40.14.010 ("Definition and classification of public records"). We interpret your request as seeking "any warrants, vouchers, receipts, checks issued and communications" pursuant to RCW 69.50.540 ("Marijuana excise taxes – Disbursements").
We have performed a search of our records including inquiry to the Finance Division for the WSLCB. We have discovered no records that are responsive to this request, as the Finance Division has indicated to us no such disbursements have occurred to date.
If you wish to rephrase and submit a different request for identifiable records in the future, we would be pleased to process that request as we have in the past. We have neither redacted nor deleted any record that is responsive to your request as we have interpreted it, and again we respectfully deny the rephrased request that you submitted on or about July 22, 2015, as no disbursements have occurred under the statutory basis that you provided.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you.
Missy Norton
Office – 360-664-1693/Fax – 360-664-9689 mka@liq.wa.gov
I-502, Secret Meetings, Lobbying and Federal Grants
April 12, 2015 420leaks Cops & Cannabis, Editorials, I-502, Washington State Liquor Control Board No comments
Has legal watchdog John Worthington opened a can of worms on Washington State and the entire I-502 rules making process and legislative bill lobbying? It looks like most of the groups involved are recipients of federal grant money, and federal law appears to prohibit them from lobbying with that money. Read the full letter he sent out that contains public records documents to back up his claims…
https://www.scribd.com/doc/261662411/Federal-Grants-for-Lobbying
Also at https://app.box.com/s/86u9qcyihoqj2tnowo8qvr52cyy4rnpc
Executive Office for United States Attorneys
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 2242
Senate Appropriations Committee
Room S128, The Capitol
House Appropriations Committee
H-305, The Capitol
Watchdog.org
1229 King Street, 3rd floor
In 2012 Washington State passed Initiative 1-502. After the Initiative had passed it was discovered through public access laws in December of2014 that the Washington State Liquor Control board travelled around the State of Washington and held 17 secret meetings with law enforcement and treatment professionals.
Aside from the fact that these acts violated the Washington State Open Public Meetings Act, it is now clear that many of these law enforcement and treatment organizations were receiving federal grants which by law may have prohibited them from lobbying and distributing information.
However, that is what happened here in Washington State on a grand scale, and the U.S. Attorneys for Washington were both aware of these events where many other federal agencies also attended these secret public meetings.
I believe that this situation may be the worst violation of 18 U.S. Code § 1913 -Lobbying with appropriated moneys, in United States history. Numerous grant receiving entities may have violated 18 U.S. Code § 1913, in a desperate attempt to save their respective jobs which were obviously on the line here in Washington State after the passage of l-502, the marijuana legalization initiative.
As many of you know we are a nation of laws that have to be applied evenly and fairly if the public confidence is to be kept intact. While it may be uncomfortable for some in Congress to hold these entities involved accountable to the law, it is in fact a law and it should be upheld regardless of your feelings on the issues of marijuana or drug abuse. These people signed federal grants under a declaration that federal grant monies would not be: used directly or indirectly to pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device, intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member of Congress, a jurisdiction, or an official of any government, to favor, adopt, or oppose, by vote or otherwise, any legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation, whether before or after the introduction of any bill, measure, or resolution proposing such legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation; of any bill, measure, or resolution proposing such legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation;
Now, after meeting with the Washington State Liquor Control Board on 17 different occasions and perhaps more, the following federal grant recipients are subject to the provisions of 18 U.S. Code § 1913:
Northwest HIDTA
Spokane County Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force
LEAD Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force
Substance Abuse Prevention of Clark County
Washington Association for Substance Abuse violence Prevention
Washington State Prevention Enhancement (SPE)
The following federal grant recipient sent employees employed by programs which were receiving federal funding:
Washington State Patrol-lAD Division (In charge or Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Forces)
The reality is the Washington State Liquor Control Board enabled many federal grant recipients to circumvent their statement of assurances which they signed agreeing not to use federal grant funding for lobbying purposes. I would not at all surprise me if the same thing happened in Colorado, Alaska, or DC.
Please hold these federal grant recipients accountable for their violations of federal laws.
PS. It has been argued and won in Federal court that state employees under federal grants are subject to the Westfall Act, and subject to the Federal Tort Claims Act as a "loaned state employee" or "Borrowed servant." They can't have it both ways. The Loaned employee's violated 18 U.S. Code § 1913: Please check for their reporting. http://www.ioos.noaa.gov/library/grantsgovsflll.pdf
John Worthington
Federal Grants and Cannabis Lobbying by 420leaks
Medical Cannabis Excise Taxes in Other States 0 to 8.8%. At Least 30% Proposed in WA.
April 6, 2015 420leaks Editorials, I-502, Integrity Check, Plan to End Medical Cannabis, Washington State Liquor Control Board No comments
According to the Marijuana Policy Project, other states have medical cannabis taxes that range from 0 to 8.8%. 13 of the 19 states with licensed, regulated cultivators and dispensaries have NO excise tax. Some charge sales tax while others do not. Proposed bills 5052/2136 would cause Washington State to have the highest taxed medical cannabis in the country (30% excise + 8% avg. sales), by forcing patients into the recreational system.
In most states, the fees collected from the commercial applications & licensing more than cover the costs of regulation. Excessive taxation of medical cannabis is unnecessary, an obstacle to participation in a regulated system, & most importantly- inhumane to the most vulnerable patients.
Please read the full article by GreenXena at
http://thepeopleformedicalcannabis.com/medical-cannabis-excise-taxes-in-other-states-0-to-8-8-30-proposed-in-wa/
Is Legal Marijuana Safe? Independent study says no.
April 6, 2015 420leaks I-502, Integrity Check, Medical Proof, Washington State Liquor Control Board No comments
Recreational users and medical patients to picket recreational outlet store in Seattle
Along with the legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington came reassurances that the products offered to the public for consumption would be lab tested for safety and consistency.
A recent study by a Washington state physician that is documented by Seattle Times reporter Evan Bush shows this is far from the case. The doctor says, "The public is being lied to about the state marijuana being properly tested for safety. It is not!"
Two weeks ago emergency trauma physician Gil Mobley, MD, purchased seven various marijuana products from two different stores in the Seattle area licensed by the state to sell recreational marijuana. The samples were delivered to five different Seattle area marijuana testing labs and one in Portland to undergo an extensive battery of tests.
"I was shocked at the results as every citizen from the state should be, especially those who have been misled into believing that they are consuming safe and quality tested cannabis products. Anything coming out of these stores should be considered unsafe until proven otherwise, and industry is years away from that goal."
Specifically, the study showed an alarming fivefold variance in the amount of psychoactive THC between the state approved labs performing the testing on the same product. That is a 500% difference.
Additionally, four labs found four different retained solvents in concentrates that none of the other 5 labs found: methanol, isopropanol, acetone and alkane, all classified as poisons.
Mobley said that equally as disturbing is the fact of 248 pesticides are approved to use on cannabis plants in the state yet there is not one lab in Washington capable of testing for these poisons. He was astonished that this was "news" to the state's marijuana examiner, Tim Gates, only two weeks ago. (The samples had to be transported illegally to a neighboring state for pesticide testing.)
Steve Sarich, long time patient advocate, agreed, criticizing the agency in charge of regulating the recreational drug. "The Liquor Control Board is telling the legislature that patients 'will be safer' if they are forced into the recreational system because their products are being 'tested'. In fact, not one of these products has ever been tested for dangerous pesticides. The reality is that patients' lives could very well be put in danger by using these any of these products. It's time for the LCB to start telling the truth to the press and to the legislature about their total lack of pesticide testing."
Dr. Mobley adds, "Until the state institutes a quality assurance plan for these labs and begins proficiency testing for accuracy, my advice for the recreational consumers and medical cannabis patients alike is to stay away from the stores and don't use any cannabis products unless you know exactly who grew or produced them."
"That's the epitome of hypocrisy; the legislature should be ashamed of themselves for not protecting the public! This is all about money and it is reprehensible for public health to take a back seat to state profits," Mobley concluded.
The pot protest will take place on Tuesday morning April 7, 2015, at 11 AM in front of Uncle Ike's recreational marijuana store at 2310 East Union Street in downtown Seattle. The event has been timed it to coincide with proposed legislation in Olympia sharply restricting the current provisions for medical marijuana patients.
For additional information please contact Dr. Gil Mobley, MD on cell 417-848-6100 or at drgilmobley@gmail.com