Buy a T-shirt, get a "gift" of weed: that's how some stores operate in Washington, exploiting a perceived loophole to sidestep a ban on selling cannabis in the US capital. The situation is but one example of the knotty legality surrounding marijuana in America, despite a trend in recent years towards normalization. "I think it's an opportunity that the government should explore more, allowing people that were affected by their war on our community, to benefit from what we have now," says Forest "Ty" Hayward, who owns one of these gifting stores in DC. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES