In a chandeliered banquet hall not far from the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, a man with a Duke MBA and a Wall Street background offered the same sort of tips often given to aspiring entrepreneurs in places like this one: Develop a clear business plan; raise enough capital to weather setbacks; find a niche and own it.

Listening were 150 or so people packed into rows of cushioned red-and-gold chairs at the District's first "Cannabis Academy," an event perfectly timed to capitalize on the rush from the city's newly legalized marijuana-growing marketplace. Butthe stereotypical images of stoner culture-leaf-adorned-Bob Marley flags and smoky photos of piled-high pot-were, by design, nowhere in sight at the Holiday Inn. The crowd, more grayhaired than long-haired, sipped coffee and thumbed through 100-plus page workbooks with categories such as "Legal" and "Accounting & Merchant Services."

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Sometimes it's hard to choose your poison, especially when all the options are horrible. That's what it's like when the District decides to take on Congress over an issue of self-government.

The District's chances of winning such contests are small because of that pesky Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to "exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over . . . the Seat of the Government of the United States." The "Seat" is us. Still, there are times when the District simply has to mix it up with Congress. The principle of self-government - the right of citizens to determine their own destiny - is too precious to forfeit out of fear that our overseers might take umbrage.

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Defying threats from Congress, the District of Columbia legalized possession of marijuana for recreational purposes on Thursday, becoming the first place east of the Mississippi River with legal pot.

The new law took effect at 12:01 a.m., despite last-minute maneuvers by Republican leaders in Congress and threats that city leaders could face prison time. Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser, who took office in January, said it was her duty to implement the initiative city voters approved overwhelmingly in November.

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The new mayor of the nation's capital was hoping to get along fine with Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Instead, they've threatened her with prison and she has accused them of acting like bullies in a showdown over legal pot that could end up costing District of Columbia residents dearly.

Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser defied threats from Congress by implementing a voter-approved initiative on Thursday, making the city the only place east of the Mississippi River where people can legally grow and share marijuana in private.

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Shortage Could Ease in D.C., As More Firms Have Registered to Be Growers

Even as the nation's capital enters an uncertain new age of legal marijuana, the 2,500 District residents permitted to buy medical cannabis are facing a blunt truth of their own: There isn't enough pot to go around.

For months, many of the marijuana-using patients registered with the D.C. Department of Health have been frustrated by a chronic shortage in the system's very limited supply chain. Since last summer, when the D.C. Council relaxed the rules for obtaining a doctor's prescription for cannabis, the number of medical users has soared past the ability of the city's three official growers to meet it.

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With Sales of Pot Still Illegal in D.C. and a Clear Grow-Your-Own Message From Police, You'll Need Patience Before You Have a Supply

The District's marijuana initiative offers many pitfalls for the cannabis connoisseur, with strict limits on how much you can have and where you can smoke it. JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS

But the hardest part may be growing the stuff.

Because marijuana sales remain illegal - unlike in states that have legalized recreational or medical use - the District's initiative is based on people growing their own. Or in the mantra of Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier: "Home use. Home grown."

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If marijuana is going to be as mainstream as chardonnay in our country's capital, it shouldn't be tough for a minivan-driving mother of two to find a pot party, right? Especially not if the city's stoners are lighting up in the wee hours Thursday to celebrate legalization. I tried a tweet. "So where's the pot party in D.C. tonight?" I asked, a few hours before the new law took effect. Nothing. I tried Facebook. "Well, I would [tell you where the party is], but since the law allows me to smoke it, but not to actually purchase it, it's a challenge," responded one of my Mommyland friends.

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The new mayor of the nation's capital was hoping to get along fine with Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Instead, they've threatened her with prison and she has accused them of acting like bullies in a showdown over legal marijuana that could end up costing District of Columbia residents dearly.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, defied threats from Congress by implementing a voter-approved initiative on Thursday, making the city the only place east of the Mississippi River where people can legally grow and share marijuana in private. But Congress still has the final say over the city's budget and laws, and the Republicans in charge seem determined to make Bowser pay.

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WASHINGTON - Some congressional Republicans said Thursday that they would increase their efforts to prevent District of Columbia residents from possessing small amounts of marijuana - which became legal Thursday - and warned that the city would face numerous investigations and hearings should the mayor continue her practice of telling them to please find something else to worry about.

"We say move forward at your own peril," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, echoing a letter he sent this week with Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., to city officials warning of legal action and ordering the district to turn over documentation on any employees involved with putting the law into effect.

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The mayor of the nation's capital was hoping to get along fine with Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Instead, they've threatened her with prison, and she has accused them of acting like bullies in a showdown over legal pot that could end up costing District of Columbia residents dearly.

Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser defied threats from Congress by implementing a voter-approved initiative Thursday, making the city the only place east of the Mississippi River where people can legally grow and share marijuana in private.

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Reaching Out to Hill Also Helped Bowser Ensure Low-Key Launch

The mayor met with marijuana advocates to minimize drama. After staring down congressional Republicans who had threatened her with prison, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser helped usher in legal pot in the District this week with minimal fuss. But the work actually began 11 months ago in a Mount Pleasant coffee shop, when she struck a deal with marijuana advocates.

Bowser secured a promise from leaders of the city's pot movement to keep legalization a low-key affair to avoid needlessly provoking opponents. Even though she hadn't yet won the Democratic primary, Bowser knew she didn't want to be mayor when images of weed-smoking crowds packed in public parks or around national monuments emanated from the city on national news programs.

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Advocates of Legalization Celebrate in Private; Police Report No Arrests

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser on Thursday sent emergency legislation to the D.C. Council to prohibit nightclubs, private membership clubs and virtually any other city-registered business from providing a venue for social marijuana smoking.

The legislation is an attempt to rein in one aspect of the city's newly effective marijuana legalization law that Bowser (D) has said could produce confusion - and, potentially, more public use of the drug then she believes was intended under the ballot measure approved by voters.

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Although marijuana became legal in the District of Columbia on Thursday morning, federal workforce rules remain unchanged for the roughly half-million U.S. government employees and military personnel who live in the area.

After 12:01 a.m. Thursday, District authorities said anyone 21 and older could possess up to 2 ounces of pot, although the drug is still prohibited on federally administered properties, such as the Mall, Rock Creek Park and public housing.

Despite the new policy, which resulted from an initiative voters approved in November, the U.S. government still considers marijuana an illegal drug and expects its civilian and military personnel to abide by federal guidelines.

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WASHINGTON - The city that brought America government shutdowns and all-night filibusters is set to make pot legal Thursday. But by the time the chaos over implementing the law is settled, most everyone in the District of Columbia might wish they were smoking some.

Residents voted overwhelmingly in November to allow growing and possessing small amounts of marijuana. But Congress, using its oversight authority over the nation's capital, inserted a provision into a massive December spending deal that prevented the local government from enacting the law.

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Recreational Pot Use Becomes Legal in D.C., but Congress Calls the City's Law Invalid.

WASHINGTON - The city that brought America government shutdowns and all-night filibusters made recreational marijuana use legal Thursday. And the foggy dispute over whether the law is even valid has probably made some people in the District of Columbia wish they were smoking some.

It's a fight that could make sense only in Washington, involving language drafted in backrooms of Congress, partisan bickering and a disputed loophole that allowed the law to take effect at midnight.

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Marijuana Legalization Seen As a Breakthrough for the Nation's Capital and a National Movement

As Thursday dawns on the nation's capital, marijuana will be a legal intoxicant, though Washington will not be Amsterdam, or even Denver. There will be no pot shops, no open-air smoking, but at least for the moment, the District - for once in its decades-long struggle for the right to govern itself - has gotten its way, and a green rush is on.

Despite a last-hours intervention by the Republican chairman of the House committee that handles D.C. affairs, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and D.C. Council members said Wednesday that they would not back down from implementing the will of the 70 percent of city voters who approved legalization in November.

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House Republicans Threaten City Officials With Jail for Implementing the Marijuana Law.

AMID ALL the uncertainties surrounding the legalization of marijuana in D.C., a few things are clear. Among them is that Congress has better things to do than meddle in the purely local affairs of the District. When it does interfere, it ends up making a mess of matters. Apparently, however, there are no bounds to the grandstanding of opportunistic politicians on Capitol Hill.

That District officials and employees have been threatened with jail, by no less than the chairman of a powerful congressional committee, for their good-faith efforts to follow a voter mandate is utterly inexcusable. Such a spectacle - and the fact that the District is under congressional attack for undertaking virtually the same steps as its counterparts in Colorado, Washington and, most recently, Alaska - should bring home to the rest of the country the need to redress the historic injustice of the city's limited political powers.

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D.C. lawmakers held steadfast that marijuana legalization laws would go into effect Thursday, despite threats from two House Republicans that doing so would put local government employees at risk of jail time.

Local officials were put on notice late Tuesday in a letter from Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz saying that Congress is investigating whether the city violated federal law by spending money to implement a voter-approved initiative to legalize the possession and home cultivation of marijuana.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser responded Wednesday, saying the District is well within its legal right to implement the laws, which were set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, and that she doesn't believe the implementation of Initiative 71 has cost the District any money.

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The city that brought America government shutdowns and all-night filibusters is set to make pot legal on Thursday. But by the time the chaos over implementing the law is settled, most everyone in the District of Columbia might wish they were smoking some.

Residents voted overwhelmingly in November to allow growing and possessing small amounts of marijuana. But Congress, using its oversight authority over the nation's capital, inserted a provision into a massive December spending deal that prevented the local government from enacting the law.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) Marijuana advocates' hopes that the US capital would easily follow in the footsteps of Denver or Seattle in clearing the way for lawful pot use are set to go up in smoke this week.

Voters in the District of Columbia last year passed a measure clearing the way for pot possession, but members of Congress have used their power over the city to prevent local officials from coming up with any plan to let the drug be sold legally for recreational purposes.

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