In 2015, I wrote an article called "Want Organic Weed?". The irony is, of course, that there is no such thing. Because cannabis is still federally illegal, the United States Department of Agriculture, the agency in charge of organic certifications, won’t come near the stuff. A pity, because it sounds like they could really stand to chill out a bit.

Our own Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) is way chiller. So chill, in fact, that they’ve included a proposal in their 2017-2019 budget proposal (it’s on page 113) to the governor to set up a state-run “Natural Cannabis” certification program. It wouldn’t involve the word "organic," due to that silly linguistic monopoly the USDA has, but they can still call it "natural" with no problems.

Who knows what tomfoolery might ensue when the proposal gets to Governor Inslee’s desk, but it’s a huge leap in the right direction. There are currently a few private companies that offer certification, including Clean Green and Certified Kind, and that "Want Organic Weed?" article touted them as a good alternative for consumers seeking organic pot, but they’re having a hard time catching on, and eco-labels thrive on participation and visibility.

Despite my glowing coverage, Clean Green isn’t exactly a household name, and they haven’t exactly had an explosion in farms seeking certification here in Washington, although they have added members since I wrote that piece.

As the WSDA budget proposal put it, “These firms face challenges regarding the perception of their independence, transparency of their processes and procedures, and consumer education regarding their trademarked marketing terms. A new public certification program at WSDA would be better positioned to meet these challenges by building on our existing reputation, independence, legally required transparency, public accountability, and consumer recognition.” Boy would it ever! But can you really trust the WSDA any more than you can trust Clean Green? Yes, yes you can!

“Certainly we have one of the oldest state run state-run organic certification programs in the country, if not the oldest,” Hector Castro, the WSDA’s spokesman, told me. “The federal program was created after ours.” I might also mention that the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board just shelled out a cool million to buy the WSDA fancy pesticide testing equipment, and that they are our state’s leading experts on pesticide safety. They’re definitely the people we want on the job.

The benefits to consumers, who are currently inundated with packages of pot dubiously claiming to be “100% organic,” are obvious:

“We want to make sure that consumers are getting what they pay for,” Castro said. “So having a program that has credibility and so forth is really a means of protecting consumers.” However, interestingly enough, Castro noted that plenty of cannabusinesses expressed interest in such a program too. That makes sense: if you are going the extra mile, you want to stand out from the crowd.

The WSDA is estimating that producers and processors will be willing to pay $1,800 for that privilege, which would eventually self-fund the program. They’re requesting money to get the ball rolling, basically, but, as WSDA spokesman Hector Castro cautioned, “We don’t have the money to do this yet, so this is, at this point, a proposal in its early stages.” Don’t get too excited, essentially.

But goddamnit, it’s hard not to. This is something we’ve needed for about four years and it’s finally, maybe, possibly happening. It’s incremental, like all progress in the Evergreen State, but it’s still progress.