Travelers hoping to take advantage of the Netherlands’ lax weed laws during their next visit may want to rethink their itinerary.

Several cities across the marijuana-friendly country recently have taken steps to limit the public use of cannabis.

This week, The Hague became the first Dutch city to ban it in the city center, the central train station, and major shopping areas.

2018 is set to be the year of extending the beauty boundaries with the rise of body part specific masks for the décolletage, arms and breasts, silk cocoon finger balls that you place on your fingertips to help with exfoliation and one of the hottest ingredient trends on the radar this year, cannabis.

A lot of this has to do with the legalisation of cannabis in anumber of states in the US: nine to be exact States - Alaska, California (the first state to do so in 1996), Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have legalised cannabis’s recreational use and a further 29 states have legalised it for medical use.

If you’ve already stocked up on fireworks, beer and food for your 4th of July bash then make sure to remember about marijuana, also known as the perfect fireworks companion. Trust us, your Independence Day will be so much better.

Know that there are multiple ways to consume marijuana: you can eat or drink it, rub it into your skin, vape, smoke and much more. Ask the budtenders at your local dispensary which products have the strains listed and then pick how you want to put it into your body.

These 10 strains will get you in the right patriotic mood:

GTO

Independence Day is a celebration of freedom. But on this July Fourth, for the first time in more than a century, our freedoms in Massachusetts include the ability to legally buy, possess, and use marijuana.

These privileges took effect in December, after voters approved a ballot question on recreational pot use. And that measure remains the law of the land, despite state legislators’ ongoing debate over a rewrite of the rules.

Along with picnics and barbecues, the Fourth of July brings a less pleasant yearly ritual for many dog lovers: worrying about a family pooch who panics at the sound of firecrackers.

Betsy and Andy Firebaugh of Santa Cruz, Calif., have reason for concern. They live on a mountain ridge overlooking the Pacific Ocean — a usually peaceful scene, except at this time of year, when people illegally set off firecrackers at local beaches. The explosive booms send their otherwise happy Australian shepherd — Seamus — into a frenzy.

"If he's outside, he can freak out and run away," Andy says. Or the dog will hunker in a corner inside the house, reduced to a quivering lump of cinnamon-brown fur. One year on the morning after Independence Day, the couple looked everywhere for Seamus.

Manila, Philippines - Sitting at an undisclosed location in Metro Manila, Alden is busy preparing for his next delivery until his phone beeps. He says it is one of his customers texting to check that he is OK and hasn't been shot like thousands of others since the start of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

Alden, however, is not a typical drug dealer. He treats hundreds of patients with debilitating diseases and life-threatening illnesses, even though he never studied medicine in college. He may not be a doctor, but he has something very few medical practitioners in the Philippines have: cannabis oil.

Hundreds of people waited for hours in long queues on the first day recreational marijuana went on sale in the US state of Nevada. 

Tourists joined locals to mark the event as Nevada became the fifth state with stores selling cannabis to the public. 

Veteran consumers, first-time buyers, twenty-something and retirees were among those who defied Los Angeles' hot temperature to get to the stores on the first of the new law. 

Some shops decided to open shortly after midnight, when the law officially came into force. 

Aussie company Botanix is developing the first new acne treatment in 20 years that aims to fight pimples using a synthetic version of cannabidiol.

However, it won’t give teens a high because it uses the nonpsychotropic molecules of cannabis.

Botanix yesterday reported to the Australian Stock Exchange its first safety study on humans of the cannabis compound BTX 1503.

The study found the compound “has an excellent safety profile, with little to no skin irritation and no severe adverse events were recorded”.

The most common adverse effect was skin dryness.

Now that Las Vegas has officially started selling recreational marijuana as of Saturday, pot tourists should learn the rules before they get high, legal experts say.

In Nevada, gambling, drinking, and even some prostitution is allowed. Marijuana may fit right in.

"It's always crazy, so it's going to be fine, I guess," said Ilze Mondragon who was flying to Las Vegas for her birthday.

It's estimated two thirds of recreational marijuana users in Las Vegas will be tourists, so what do locals think?

"There are still a lot of legal ramifications," Las Vegas resident Spencer Cranney said.

You can't use marijuana in hotels, on the Strip, in public, or in restaurants.

Denver’s licensing department on Friday released the final adopted rules that business wanting to allow the social use of marijuana in their buildings will have to adhere to in order to get a permit.

Denver voters approved Initiative 300 last November, which opens up the possibility for the existence of the clubs. The city, state and local organizations have been hammering out exactly what requirements the businesses have to follow since.