POINT ROBERTS, Wash. — If you want to smoke legal pot in Point Roberts, Wash., you might have a hard time finding some.

Larry Musselwhite wants to open the first retail pot store in this oddly situated speck of Washington state, the Seattle Times reported. The problem Musselwhite  faces is that Point Roberts is on the southern tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula of Canada, so to get to Point Roberts from mainland Washington you have to cross the Canadian border and it’s illegal to bring marijuana across the border.

Mike Tomlin, another resident of Point Roberts, told the Times he wondered how adults on Point Roberts are going to have access to recreational pot — a legal right of Washingtonians since the passage of I-502 in the November general election.

Tomlin suffers from arthritis and recently received medical marijuana authorization, but there are no dispensaries in Point Roberts, the paper reported. So while he is legally allowed to possess pot, he has no way to get it.

But as residents of Point Roberts wait to find out how they’ll get access to marijuana, they will have to wait — like everyone else — until the Washington State Liquor Board determines how many pot stores will be located throughout the state.

SEATTLE — The DEA sent letters Tuesday warning 11 medical marijuana shops near schools or playgrounds to close, move or risk raids by federal agents.

The same letter was sent to 23 medical marijuana shops in Western Washington in August 2012.

“We will not be providing the locations of storefronts notified.  This is part of an on-going strategy to combat marijuana trafficking. As we continue to identify locations, additional letters will be sent out,” a DEA spokesman said.

The letters ordered all marijuana dispensaries operating within 1,000 feet of a school or playground to close shop within 30 days, warning them that the federal government could close them down and seize their assets if they do not comply.

SEATTLE — Dozens of investors from around the world are flocking to Seattle Monday to look into helping local pot business owners get off the ground.

More than 40 investors will spend the day in private meetings hearing investment pitches from entrepreneurs in the new legal cannabis industry.

San Francisco-based The ArcView Investor Network is hosting the event as part of its national quarterly meeting.

The meetings will take place at the Columbia Tower in downtown Seattle.

Unless there is some recognized analgesic effect of rolling a joint, lighting it up and deeply inhaling the by-products of marijuana combustion, then it stands to reason that you could distill the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, and formulate it into, say, a capsule. Doing so would combine the relief that comes with smoked marijuana with the ease of a pill and the quality control that comes with approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

OLYMPIA — The Washington State Liquor Control Board released an updated timeline for the implementation of Iniative 502, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.

The new timeline, released Wednesday, mandated all rules and permits are on track to be issued by Dec. 1.

Important dates of implementation:

Mid May – Send draft rules to stakeholders for comment

Mid June- CR102 (draft rules) filed for Producer, processor and Retailer Licenses. the CR102 allows the WSLCB to seek public comment on draft rule language developed with input from the public during the initial comment period.

Late July- Public hearings on rules for producer, processor and retailer licenses allowing the public to comment on the draft rule language.

Late August – Rules become effective.

September- WSLCB begin accepting Producer, Processor and Retail License applications.

December 1 – Rules are  complete. WSLCB begins issuing Producer, Processor and Retail licenses to qualified applicants.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., on Friday introduced “Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2013,” which would prevent the federal government from prosecuting residents who are acting in accordance with their state’s marijuana laws.

The bill, H.R. 1523, would legalize marijuana at the federal level to the extent it is legal at the state level.

“This bipartisan bill represents a common-sense approach that establishes federal government respect for all states’ marijuana laws,” Rohrabacher said in a statement.  “It does so by keeping the federal government out of the business of criminalizing marijuana activities in states that don’t want it to be criminal.”

So far, 18 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have legalized the use of marijuana to some extent, mostly for medical reasons, and Washington and Colorado have legalized its recreational use.

Those co-sponsoring the bill are Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich., Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Don Young, R-Alaska.

Courtesy LA Times

SEATTLE — In an effort to streamline pot licensing, Washington state’s Liquor Control Board may delay issuing licenses to legally grow and buy pot for  a couple of months from the original timetable reported earlier this year, the Seattle Times reported Wednesday.

According to the Times, Washington’s state’s Liquor Control Board’s Deputy Director Rick Garza said Tuesday in Seattle the state would issue licenses for pot producers, processors and retailers all at the same time. Originally, the state had planned to stagger the licensing to allow for pot growth, then sale, but decided that all three institutions vital in marijuana production and sale would benefit from licenses issued at the same time.

“All three probably need to know what the market looks like,” Garza told the Times. He said this decision could push back the timetable for pot shops back a couple of months, and a more concrete timetable would be decided soon.

Mark Kleiman, the state’s appointed pot consultant, said stores might not be open until spring of 2014. The decision for a timetable is up to three appointed board members.