The nation’s capital has become a dramatic tableau for cannabis activists, a perfect venue. Some have come to express displeasure with the Drug Enforcement Administration, citing acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg, who recently called medical cannabis a “joke.”

Those who use it in one form or another — including a Navy vet with PTSD and parents of ailing children — will deliver a petition Friday to the federal agency, bearing some 90,000 signatures and demanding that Mr. Rosenberg either step down or be fired for his remark. Rep. Earl Blumenauer agrees with them.

Behind the bars of some of the nation's finest cocktail joints, there are secrets: secret recipes, secret bottles for friends only. One of these is the Green Dragon, a liquor potently infused with marijuana.

There've been alcohol-based tinctures of cannabis before, of course -- usually seen in turbid brown jars on windowsills, But one prominent New York bartender (I'll call him Jon) has been responsible for bringing the infusion up to date with modern, artisanal cocktail culture. Jon is a serious, technologically minded craftsman of beverages; he works as a cocktail consultant, and has designed the cocktail programs of more than one Manhattan bar.

The Marijuana Control Board voted to allow consumption of marijuana at retail stores, which, if approved by Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, would make Alaska the first state to permit a regulated area for marijuana consumption outside of a person’s home or other private spaces.

The change allows for people to buy marijuana at a retail store and consume it in a designated area on the premises. 

The board voted 3-2 in favor of the amendment, with Loren Jones, public health board member, and Peter Mlynarik, the public safety board member, dissenting.

The regulations will go to the Department of Law for a formal review before heading to Mallott's desk.

The board tasked with writing rules for Alaska's recreational marijuana industry voted Friday to allow for people to use pot at certain stores that will sell it, a first among the four states that have legalized the drug.

The 3-2 vote by the Marijuana Control Board also changed the definition of the term "in public" to allow for consumption at some pot shops, none of which are open yet. Colorado, Washington and Oregon have legalized recreational marijuana but ban its public use, including in pot stores.

Previously this month, the Oregon Department of Human Solutions turned down a charitable contribution from a cannabis industry group. Founded by Lindsey Jacobsen, the group Women Leaders in Cannabis had actually planned to contribute 20 Thanksgiving Day dishes to needy households in Eugene and had actually asked the department for help distributing the donations.

According to Oregon Live, the contribution was initially invited by the department but was later rejected.

Is Colorado starting a new trend?

In South Dakota, cannabis users can now experience a new trend of relaxation and respite: marijuana resorts. While marijuana is not yet legal in the state, the government legalized cannabis specifically on Santee Sioux land in June, 2015. The policy allows Indian tribes on reserves to grow and sell cannabis under similar regulations to those of states with legalized marijuana, granting these tribes an exclusive revenue stream. While some groups may be hesitant, the revenue potential has others cashing in.

Retail pot sales in Southwest Washington are down after Oregon’s recreational launch in October

Marijuana dispensaries in Southwest Washington lost about 37 percent in sales and tax revenue in the month October, according to data from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.

“Opening up 100 stores [in Portland] within driving distance is tough on everyone,” said Gareth Kautz, who owns High End Market Place, a marijuana retailer in Vancouver.

Vancouver retailers took a hit when medical marijuana dispensaries in Portland began selling recreational cannabis buds on Oct. 1.

Though much of the money collected via the Michigan Medical Marihuana has remained untouched by Michigan law enforcement, a recent report from The Compassionate Chronicles has shed light on an alarming misallocation of medical cannabis funds.

"Zero percent marijuana, 100 percent dangerous."

New York has launched a public awareness campaign in its war against synthetic cannabis, a potentially deadly drug which experts say preys on the poorest and the mentally ill.

The drug widely known as K2 has killed at least two people in recent months and sent more than 6,000 people to the emergency room in the city since January. Most were men.

It first came to the attention of authorities last year and is sold under a string of other names: Spice, AK-47, Bizarro, Green Giant and Smacked -- to name the most common.

Sometimes packaged as "aromatherapy" or "pot pourri," some bags are decorated with cartoon characters. It can be bought on the Internet but also from cigarette sellers and bodegas.