Public Policy Advocacy

WACA is a democratically run cannabis industry association led by its members and overseen by a Board of Trustees. Its members establish its legislative and regulatory priorities every year via a months-long process of discussion and information-sharing. This annual process is supported by WACA staff and overseen by the board. Here is how that process works:

Step 1

WACA members are organized into Councils to discuss potential regulatory and legislative areas of focus. Each license-type is represented by a Council: Retail, Lab, Producers and Processors. All members are automatically enrolled in a Council in accordance with their license-type.

Step 2

Each Council elevates priorities to be considered by the full WACA membership at the annual policy meeting.

Step 3

A representative of each Council presents its recommended priorities to the membership. Following discussion, the full membership votes on which priorities should be adopted into WACA’s legislative and regulatory agendas.

Voting members receive one vote each, no matter their size or revenue or location.

Interested in our past advocacy? Here is the archive of legislative and regulatory agendas.

The cannabis industry often is confronted with emerging policy questions and policy crises that occur outside of the normal priority-setting process detailed above. When this happens, WACA staff work with the board to distribute surveys to the full WACA membership to gather information in real-time before taking a position. WACA bylaws require participation of 50 percent or more of its members in such surveys before taking an official position.

You can review WACA's bylaws here.

Want to learn more about WACA and how we advocate on behalf of the regulated cannabis industry in Washington State? Please reach out to us directly at info@wacannabusiness.org.