Recreational weed is now legal in the nation's capital—despite House Republicans' best efforts to stop it. The new law officially went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

Congressional Republicans had hoped to block legalization, but despite their last-second threats, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pressed forward with a law that district voters approved last fall by a margin of nearly 2-to-1. As the Associated Press reminds us, the nation's capital is now the first place east of the Mississippi where recreational pot is legal. It is also legal to posses small quantities of pot in Alaska, Colorado, and Washington state. The D.C. law makes it legal to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana for home use, and to grow up to three mature plants.

But, unlike in Colorado and Washington, the sale of the drug remains illegal in the district.