When I started working as a criminal defense attorney, marijuana arrests were common.   Not only would cops arrest people lighting up a joint in public, but they would often use pot as an excuse to justify stopping and searching targets.

I’ve conducted hearings where police cited as probable cause for searches nothing more than, “I smelled marijuana.”  Problem was, often no marijuana was ever found.  The claim alone gave police justification to do a myriad of things — search the person, open his bags, tear through his car and trunk (if he was driving), or even break down his apartment door.

It was such an easy thing to make up (“I smelled marijuana.”), that even judges began to grow skeptical of whether it really happened or was just being used as a dodge to stop people and search them.

Many times, the people stopped were young black and Latino men.  A cop might see a broken headlight on a car.  He would then claim he saw a “marijuana leaf” in the cup holder or smelled marijuana and thereby justify searching every cranny of the car and all the people riding in it. [Read More @ Above the Law]