Paul Harris has spent the past 15 years issuing marriage licences in Vancouver, Washington, but throughout it all has been deprived of the right to marry his partner of four decades.
There wasn't a police officer to be seen as crowds of people gathered under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning to light up and celebrate a new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.
Pot-smokers lit up in Washington state Thursday as recreational marijuana became legal in a historic first for the United States, clouded by the fact that federal law still bans the practice.
Juan Manuel Santos, incumbent President of Colombia, which has fought a long-time war on drugs with the support of the U.S., has just signed a public letter questioning that war on grounds of efficacy, cost, side effects, and fairness.
Marijuana possession becomes legal Thursday in Washington, and medical marijuana gardens will be allowed in Vancouver as of Dec. 8 (an earlier version of this post gave an incorrect date) following City Council approval Monday night.