Is he trying to get arrested? Perhaps. The stunt is being orchestrated by activists with the nonprofit Hemp Industries Association and Vote Hemp advocacy group, as part of the first annual Hemp History Week.

Yesterday, a North Dakota lawmaker filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, accusing the federal Drug Enforcement Administration of delaying the approval of federal licenses to grow "non-drug" industrial hemp in that state.

It's a subtle distinction. Both hemp and marijuana are varieties of the cannabis plant. But the THC levels are much different. Smoking marijuana will get you high. Smoking hemp will only make you frustrated. Still, the two plants have a similar look and aroma, which is probably why the government bans the domestic cultivation of hemp, too, because, well, who can really tell the difference?

It wasn't always that way, of course.

Two nights ago, an intimate crowd gathered in the subterranean Capitol Hemp store in Adams Morgan for readings from the recently uncovered diaries of one-time government botanist Lyster Dewey (prominently featured recently in the Washington Post, and less surprisingly, High Times magazine).

The diaries contain all sorts of details on hemp farming research by the government dating back to the 1890s and indicate that Dewey himself used to grow the stuff at his place in Petworth, identified in the books as 4512 9th Street NW.

On Friday, a bunch of hemp advocates will board the Capitol Hemp truck, bound for Mt. Vernon to find out where America's first president grew it ("a well-known fact," according to Vote Hemp honcho Eric Steenstra) on his Virginia farm. It seems tourists don't usually get that info during tours of the historical site. Maybe they'll bring the guy in Washington garb to give a history lesson.

Photo courtesy of the Hemp Industry Association

Fall Church and Manassas  say yes. Alexandria and D.C. say no.

But why does anyone get Presidents' Day off in the first place? The holiday's name is bogus: You may think you're honoring all presidents, or maybe just the three or four everyone likes, but the feds consider the third Monday in February Washington's Birthday.

No one should say the father of our country doesn't warrant recognition. After all, in this region, we have only the name of this city, two very tall monuments, his estate in Virginia (at my wife's citizenship ceremony there last year, an actor dressed as the general gave one of the day's best speeches), statues throughout the city, his visage on currency, and plaques on every other flippin' house in Old Town to remember the guy. Alexandria's parade to honor Washington has been canceled, and that's sad, I guess, but I  think the Washington area will manage to keep Washington's memory alive whether we get to spend the day shopping for mattresses or not–this is a holiday traditionally observed at the mall, after all.

This is not a shot at retailers–heaven knows this past week has been torment for them. But does anyone think that if the roads are passable this weekend, shops won't be heaving with folks who've been stuck inside for 10 days? Do we really need Presidents' Day, too?

*D.C. Police are still on the lookout for Corey Harrison, the slippery fellow who went AWOL on his child support and then, once in custody, escaped from the United Medical Center in the 1300 block of Southern Ave. SE:

He escaped from a men’s room by climbing through the ceiling of the restroom and then making his way to another room. When he escaped, he was wearing a white T-shirt, boxer shorts and a handcuff on one wrist.

*Prince of Petworth teams with IntangibleArts to wield a video camera in imitation of PBS. (See above.) Nice shades, yer highness!

*The D.C. Council, perhaps as a nod to our demonstrated lack of gumption in the face of actual weather, wants you to clean ice & snow off your car but won't fine you if you don't. (Via D.C. Wire)

*Still got your button from the Capital Fringe Festival? Julianne announces your February perks.

*Juliet Lapidos answers all of your dirty little Michael Phelps/ganja-related questions.

*ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: George Washington was elected (1789) and reelected (1792) as our first Prez. And you can be damn sure that those pamphleteers liveblogged the shit out of his first 100 days.