WSDA Looking to Offer Organic-Like Option for Marijuana Growers

The Washington State Department of Agriculture is looking to work with marijuana growers to come up with a description and rules that would approximate an organic label in other commodities.

Brenda Book, Organic Program Manager, said it all started with a Senate Bill that passed the state legislature.

“What that new law does is it gives us the ability to develop a new service that can provide certification to the Washington marijuana industry that’s equivalent to USDA National Organic Standards.”

They can’t use the term organic due to federal regulations however.

Book said there has been a lot of interest in coming up with a certification system from the industry.

“There’s a lot of different claims that are happening right where people are trying to distinguish their product in the marketplace and let the consumer know how it was produced. But there’s no one defined meaning behind all those different labeling claims that we see out there.”

Book said they will use the USDA organic standards as a baseline, but the industry can go beyond that if they wish. To be involved, contact Book at the WSDA at organic@agr.wa.gov.

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