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LAUNCHING LEGAL POT FACES DIFFICULT ROAD

SEATTLE ( AP ) - As Washington plows toward the legalization of pot, it's finding that getting the cannabis market off the ground has been even tougher than anyone imagined.

Among the frustrated are growers who have been waiting months for permission to start raising their bar-coded plants; advocates who wish more public health messaging had been done by now; and would-be pot vendors like O'Neil who said bad luck, minor oversights on their applications, or errors by state officials have torpedoed otherwise promising efforts.

Washington's Liquor Control Board expects to issue the first 15 to 20 marijuana retail licenses July 7, months later than first expected, but it's not clear how many of those shops are ready to open.  Board staff said last week only one shop in Seattle is prepared for its final inspection.

Randy Simmons, the board's legal pot project manager, predicts a "bumpy road," with an initial shortage of stores and marijuana alike.  Many businesses that got lucky in the pot-shop lottery in April have since been disqualified, such as by being too close to schools or playgrounds.  Others haven't finished building or made deals to buy pot from licensed growers.