Jim Seida / NBC News

Garth Carroll, who also goes by the name of "Professor Gizmo," smokes what he describes as "good, greenhouse organic herb" at the base of the Space Needle in Seattle just before midnight on Wednesday, Dec. 5. Carroll is a medical marijuana patient and marijuana activist in Seattle.

About a hundred pot smokers gathered in the cold at Seattle's City Center on Wednesday night to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana in Washington state.  The law, which took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6, does not allow marijuana to be smoked in public, but you wouldn't know it by watching the crowd.  As the clock stuck midnight, cheers erupted, followed by lighters igniting pipes and joints.

Jim Seida / NBC News

Dustin, left and Paul, both from Puyallup, Wash., and both of whom wouldn't give their last name, smoke marijuana beneath the Space Needle shortly after midnight on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in Seattle, Wash. Dustin and Paul were two of about 100 pot smokers gathered in Seattle's City Center to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana.

Even though it's still illegal to smoke marijuana in public in Washington, there was no sign of police presence in the smokey crowd.  The Seattle Police Department themselves have officially told the public that "...minor marijuana possession has been the lowest enforcement priority for the Seattle Police Department since Seattle voters passed Initiative 75 in 2003." They answer the public's marijuana-related FAQs in their somewhat humorous online guide called "Marijwhatnow? A guide to Legal Marijuana Use In Seattle."

Jim Seida / NBC News

"It's too good to be just for the young," said 67-year-old Pat Edmonson about the marijuana cigarette she smoked just after midnight on Thursday, Dec. 6, in Seattle. Edmonson, of Whidbey Island, Wash., was in Seattle with her daughter to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana.

Seattle police acknowledge that while it's now legal in the state of Washington to possess marijuana, it's still against federal law.  For more on federal laws still in effect, check out the Department of Justice statement warning that was issued.

Related content:

• A history of pot, from George Washington to legalizing ganja
• Midnight party: Pot, gay marriage become legal in Washington state
• Video: Wash. pot smokers light up at Space Needle

That's a lot of weed. 

Jorge Duenes / Reuters

A soldier walks through the biggest marijuana plantation found in Mexico, in San Quintin, about 350 km (220 miles) away from Tijuana, July 13. Mexican soldiers discovered the plantation in a remote desert surrounded by cactuses, a top army officer said on Thursday.)

Reuters says: Mexican soldiers discovered the plantation while on patrol, said General Alfonso Duarte.
He said the crop, which was found in the state of Baja California, about 200 miles/320 km south of San Diego, California, would have yielded about 120 tonnes and was worth about $160 million. "This is the biggest marijuana plantation we have found in the country," Duarte said. He added that the plants would be destroyed. 

Jorge Duenes / Reuters

An aerial view shows the biggest marijuana plantation found in Mexico, in San Quintin, Soldiers patrolling the area found 300 acres (120 hectares) of pot plants being tended by dozens of men on Tuesday, said General Alfonso Duarte.

Most of the men tending the crop escaped capture but six suspects were arrested later at a military checkpoint. The men had dug a well at the barren site and pumped water through hoses to irrigate the plants, which were up to 8 feet tall.
President Felipe Calderon has deployed tens of thousands of troops to the streets to take on powerful drug traffickers shortly after taking office in late 2006. Violence has spiraled since then, with more than 40,000 people killed across Mexico, hurting support for Calderon's conservative National Action Party (PAN), which faces an uphill struggle to secure re-election next July.

Mexico is America's top supplier of marijuana and most cocaine consumed in the United States passes through Mexico.