It's been over a decade since Washington legalized recreational cannabis — but the state still isn't able to reliably track cannabis from production through processing to retail sale.
That's according to a recent performance audit from the Office of the Washington State Auditor, which highlights how the Liquor and Cannabis Board failed to implement a digital tracking system that it launched in 2018, instead implementing a "stopgap" system with "significant limitations."
Full-service "seed-to-sale" tracking exists in other states, the auditor's office said and helps officials identify risks of illegal or unsafe practices. In Washington, that type of system has "yet to be fully realized," despite 12 years of development, said Pat McCarthy, the state's auditor.
"Today, Washington's legal cannabis marketplace is an industry employing more than 100,000 people, and the opportunities for illegal trade at any point in the process remain real," the auditor's office said.
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