Cannabis, corruption and cryptocurrency: All the weird stuff in the budget deal

No D.C. marijuana sales: Congress will continue to ban the District of Columbia from taxing and regulating marijuana. Seventy percent of D.C. voters backed a referendum in 2014 legalizing pot, but provisions in spending bills since then have prevented the city from taxing and regulating the drug. The result is a “gray market” where residents are legally allowed to grow and carry marijuana, but not sell it outright.

Corruption jab at Elaine Chao: While it should be common sense that officials can’t use their public office for private gain, lawmakers spelled out just such a prohibition this year. The funding deal explicitly forbids the Department of Transportation from spending money in violation of a U.S. law that bars federal employees from using their position to endorse products or services, or to boost their relatives or friends. The no-brainer ban is seen as a jab at Elaine Chao, who has been accused of conflicts of interest in her role as Transportation…