Engrossed House Bill 2681, passed by the House on February 28, 2026 (Yeas 52, Nays 42) and by the Senate on March 11, 2026 (Yeas 29, Nays 20), amends RCW 69.50.325 and updates licensing and regulatory provisions for cannabis producer, processor, and retailer licenses regulated by "the board" (the bill text does not identify the board). It establishes that each license must specify a Washington location, requires a separate license for each physical site, and authorizes producers, processors, and retailers to perform specified production, processing, packaging, labeling, wholesaling, and retail sales activities. The bill states activities by validly licensed producers, processors, and retailers are not criminal or civil offenses under state law. The bill sets fees and renewal requirements: a $250 application fee and a $1,781 annual issuance and renewal fee for each producer, processor, and retailer license. It limits ownership so that an individual retail licensee and all persons or entities with a financial or other ownership interest in that business may collectively hold no more than five retail cannabis licenses, and it prohibits entering into management or other agreements that would confer financial interests across more than five retail licenses. The bill gives examples of what constitutes a "financial interest" (profit sharing, coordinated purchasing/pricing, shared intellectual property or branding, operational control or support, shared marketing, and coordinated hiring or shared employees). The bill directs the board to adopt rules establishing a forfeiture process for retailer licenses that are not fully operational and open to the public, subject to timing limits: no forfeiture within the first nine months after issuance, and the board must forfeit on or before 24 months after issuance unless circumstances beyond the licensee’s control justify an extension. The board may not require forfeiture if opening is prevented by a local ban, moratorium, or ordinance that prevents receiving an occupancy permit or becoming operational. Important contextual details are missing from the provided text: the board is not identified, the board’s specific forfeiture rule language and the exact "specified period" are left to rulemaking, and the excerpt does not show how these changes alter the prior language of RCW 69.50.325 or 2025 c 250 s 1.

If enacted, people who apply for or run cannabis producer, processor, or retail businesses will face clear upfront and ongoing fees and tighter limits on how they can expand. Each physical location must have its own license and costs include a $250 application fee plus $1,781 a year to issue and renew each license. Retail owners and anyone with a financial interest in a retail business will be limited to five retail licenses total and may no longer use management contracts, shared branding, shared employees, coordinated purchasing or other common business arrangements to effectively run more than five stores, so businesses that planned to grow through franchising, shared services, or layered ownership will likely need to restructure or stop expansion. The board that issues licenses will also be able to take back retailer licenses that aren’t open to the public if the licensee stays closed for too long, but forfeiture cannot happen in the first nine months after a license is issued and must occur by 24 months unless the board allows more time; the board must write the detailed rules. Local bans, moratoria, or other local rules that prevent a store from opening will protect a licensee from forfeiture, but the bill leaves important details unclear: the specific board named, the exact operational deadline the board will set within those nine‑ to 24‑month limits, and the detailed forfeiture procedures are not provided here.