Oregonians Can Start Tending Up to 4 Pot Plants

As CNN puts it, "they are partying in Portland." That's because recreational pot became legal today in Oregon, the fourth state behind Colorado, Washington state, and Alaska, as well as the District of Columbia, to take this step, the AP reports. Medical marijuana is already legal in 23 states plus DC, per the National Conference of State Legislatures. What this means broadly: If you're 21 and older in Oregon, you can possess and use marijuana in the privacy of your own home or on other private property, keep up to 8 ounces at your home (and carry 1 ounce outside the home), and grow up to four pot plants per residence, as long as they're kept out of public view. Other things to know, per CNN, the AP, and the Oregonian:

• What Portland revelers did in the streets today, per Reuters, was technically still illegal: Partaking in public isn't allowed (that includes on public transportation). Even your front porch could be considered a public place if your neighbors see you toking up (the Oregonian recommends you head out to your back porch instead).
• The only way you can acquire pot in Oregon right now is to grow it or have it gifted. There's no way to purchase or sell it legally until licensed retail outlets open—something the Portland chapter of a pro-legalization group guesses won't happen until the middle of next year.
• What's grown or exchanged in Oregon, stays in Oregon. Weed can't cross state lines, even to the fellow cannabis-friendly state of Washington.
• For those who find all this legal mumbo-jumbo is harshing your mellow, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission has put together a simple, colorful infographic that spells out the major guidelines in icon format.

(More Oregon stories.)