There was a brief moment Tuesday afternoon when Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s (R-Utah) legislative director cradled a foot-long, glass marijuana pipe in her hands.

The handmade smoking utensil was a “peace pipe” offering from Adam Eidinger, the chair of the DC Cannabis Campaign, the group that successfully organized efforts to legalize marijuana through a voter initiative last November. Chaffetz — chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which handles D.C. affairs — made a last ditch attempt in February to block the marijuana law before it went into effect.

Beer geeks thrive off finding common ground with one another. And the folks behind Washington D.C.-based DC Brau and Colorado-rooted Oskar Blues share a lot more than their love of microbrews. Both breweries now hail from areas of the U.S. that are home to the most relaxed cannabis laws in the United States — and they’re debuting a protest beer today (yes, St. Patrick’s Day) in honor of their 420-friendliness.

The new beer, called Smells Like Freedom, will be tapped tonight at D.C. hangout Meridian Pint in the Columbia Heights neighborhood — “where Initiative 71 supporters gathered on Election Night last year to celebrate legalization,” according to The Washington Post.

It’s only natural the District would see an increased interest in horticulture after it became legal last month to grow marijuana plants. But with the sale of marijuana still illegal, those budding green thumbs have a problem: where to get marijuana seeds?

By hosting two seed exchanges this month, the D.C. Cannabis Campaign hopes to help.

“This will be D.C. residents’ opportunity to share seeds with other adults and start down the path of legally growing your own cannabis in the safety and privacy of your home,” the campaign announced Thursday.

On Monday, we ran a story about how despite the fact that smoking marijuana is now essentially legal in Washington, D.C., employers are planning to keep making workers pee in a cup — both before someone is hired and intermittently on the job. In Colorado, which has also legalized pot, drug testing has actually ticked up a bit, with companies worried that the state’s burgeoning pot industry might start to infiltrate the workplace.

But that hides the longer-term trend: Employers drug test a lot less than they used to because there’s very little evidence that testing does much to improve safety or productivity.

Less than one week after D.C. allowed marijuana legalization to go into effect (against the wishes of vocal Republicans in Congress), the D.C. Council unanimously passed emergency legislation Tuesday to ban marijuana use at nightclubs and other places of business, even during private events.

D.C. police on Monday were forced to return a man’s stash of marijuana that was confiscated during his arrest, D.C. Council member Yvette Alexander said.

Ms. Alexander, a Democrat, told WAMU public radio that a resident walked into the Sixth District police station on Monday and asked an officer on duty to return his seized property.

“He walked in to recover his property from a recent arrest,” she said. “He walked in and said, ‘I want my property back and want to make sure I get my weed back.’ “

Scott Harms/Getty Images/iStockphoto Freed Washington, D.C. inmates are given their seized weed back under new legalized-marijuana laws.

Legalized marijuana in Washington, D.C. means cops are giving some freed inmates their weed back.

Under a law that took effect Feb. 26, possession of 2 ounces or less of marijuana is legal for anyone over the age of 21. That means small amounts of pot seized during jail bookings are now returned upon the owners release — just like an inmate’s wallet, cellphone and keys would be.

By Aaron C. Davis,

A D.C. Council committee is poised to pass legislation Wednesday that would ban employers in the nation’s capital from testing prospective employees for marijuana until after a job offer is made.

Council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At large), who sponsored the bill, said it is his hope that before such pre-employment drug testing is administered, employers in the city will give new employees a grace period to “clean up,” if they will expect them to be drug-free.

Washington, DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier seems fairly enthusiastic about marijuana legalization in the District, even decrying the past system of prohibition and how it tarnished community relations with police.

Lanier told the American News Women's Club last Wednesday, according to the Daily Beast, "All those [marijuana] arrests do is make people hate us." She added, "Marijuana smokers are not going to attack and kill a cop. They just want to get a bag of chips and relax. Alcohol is a much bigger problem."

The emerging legal marijuana economy will see explosive growth in the coming years. Insurers should be prepared to adopt policies that spell out coverage for legally grown marijuana plants and medical marijuana property. The cannabis industry is expected to grow to nearly $15 billion over the next four years. In states where manufacture, sale and use is legal for recreational purposes, legalization will have a profound impact on not only personal lines insurance, but also commercial coverage, workers’ comp, product liability, healthcare insurance and more.