The bill adds a new section to chapter 69.50 RCW and amends existing cannabis licensing and testing statutes to create procedures that would apply if a "legal interstate cannabis market" occurs (defined as either federal law being amended to allow interstate transfers between authorized cannabis businesses or a U.S. Department of Justice opinion or memo allowing or tolerating such transfers). Under the new rules, cannabis imported from outside Washington must be distributed through a licensed cannabis processor and must undergo quality assurance and product testing by independent, third‑party testing laboratories accredited by the Washington State Department of Agriculture before retail sale. Laboratories must obtain and maintain accreditation, licensees must submit inspection and testing results to the Liquor and Cannabis Board, and if a representative sample fails applicable standards the entire lot must be destroyed except as the board may provide by rule. The bill amends RCW 69.50.325 and RCW 69.50.348 to specify license authorities, conditions, and testing requirements, to allow processors to receive out‑of‑state products upon occurrence of the interstate market and board authorization, and to apply the same quality assurance standards to out‑of‑state products. It sets application and annual license fees ($250 application fee and $1,381 annual fee for producer, processor, and retailer licenses as specified), limits the aggregate number of retail cannabis licenses held by a retail licensee and related persons to no more than five, and prohibits certain management or other agreements that would create financial interests across more than five retail licenses. The bill defines examples of what constitutes a "financial interest" and requires the board to adopt a forfeiture process for retailer licenses that are not operational, including timing limits (no forfeiture within the first nine months of issuance; required forfeiture on or before 24 months unless extended for circumstances beyond the licensee’s control) and exceptions when local jurisdictions have prevented opening. The Department of Agriculture may assess and collect annual accreditation fees to support the laboratory accreditation and quality standards program, deposit fees into the dedicated cannabis account, and must review fee schedules biennially. The governor may enter into interstate agreements under RCW 43.06.495 subject to section 1, and any such agreement must ensure enforceable public health and safety standards, testing, packaging and labeling, tracking of interstate delivery, and tax collection; the Liquor and Cannabis Board must provide notice and adopt rules if the federal trigger occurs. The extracted text is incomplete in places: the identity of "the board" is not defined in the provided facts, Sec. 3(1)(c) is cut off so full procedures for representative samples of out‑of‑state products are unclear, and some referenced amendments (including to RCW 43.06.495 and RCW 69.50.401) and any penalty changes are not fully shown in the material provided.

If enacted, the bill would make independent, state‑accredited testing mandatory for any cannabis products brought into Washington before they can be sold, meaning producers, processors, and retailers would face higher upfront compliance and product‑loss risks because failing a sample requires destroying the whole lot unless the board provides an exception. Testing labs would need to obtain and maintain accreditation and pay annual accreditation fees set by the Department of Agriculture (with the department able to collect those fees and deposit them into the dedicated cannabis account), while license applicants and holders would pay the specified application and annual license fees ($250 application, $1,381 annual). Processors would gain a new pathway to buy or receive out‑of‑state cannabis if an interstate market opens, creating a new supply option that depends on later board authorization and federal action. The bill also limits retail consolidation by capping the number of retail licenses any person or related group can hold at five and banning agreements that create a financial interest across more than five licenses, which will constrain expansion plans for chains and investors and may force ownership changes. The Liquor and Cannabis Board must create forfeiture rules so licenses not open to the public are forfeited by 24 months (with no forfeiture in the first nine months and exceptions when local jurisdictions block opening), increasing pressure to become operational quickly. Timing and full implementation are uncertain because key provisions trigger only if federal law or a Justice Department memo allows interstate cannabis transfers, and several details in the provided text—such as the identity of “the board,” the remainder of Sec. 3, and amendments to other RCWs—are missing from the extracted facts.