Seattle's towering Space Needle was the site for a different kind of "elevation" Thursday night, as hundreds of marijuana smokers gathered at the iconic structure to mark the first day adults could legally light up without needing a medical justification.

Exactly one month ago, Washington voters passed Initiative 502, removing all criminal penalties for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by adults over 21 years of age, and ultimately permitting the substance to be sold at stores licensed by the state, according to Reuters. Using the drug in public remains technically illegal, but Seattle police officers were ordered to issue only verbal warnings for smoking marijuana.

Colorado also voted to legalize marijuana on November 6, but its law does not take effect until next month. Oregon voters turned down a somewhat different marijuana bill in that state.

Despite medical marijuana being legal in 18 states, and public support for full legalization of marijuana hitting 58 percent in a recent poll, the federal government has never accepted states' rights on this issue as part of its War on Drugs framework. Even the Obama administration, which many early supporters felt might take a different approach to drugs, has conformed to the drug warrior nature of its predecessors, as the Daily Beast reports.

A month of conspicous silence from the federal government after Washington and Colorado approved ballot initiatives legalizing marijuana for recreational use gave some hope to pro-marijuana advocates that the administration had softened its tune, but the Justice Department broke the calm with a statement Wednesday reiterating the illegality of marijuana under federal law, according to the Washington Post.

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of marijuana legalization here.

Reach Executive Producer Matt Pressberg here.