In 2017, an 18 year old girl and 2 friends were at a Coney Island park in Brooklyn. A police search revealed marijuana and klonopin. The driver was arrested, taken away, raped by the two officers then released. The cops got 5 years probation.

I wonder how that arrest went down. Was the trio smoking a joint? Were they about to smoke a joint? Was the smell of marijuana the probable cause that led to a search? Was there actually a smell of marijuana or was it a lucky guess? Was the driver guilty of being an attractive young woman?

Marijuana legalization wouldn't have prevented this girl from getting raped, but it might have prevented her from getting arrested.

In October 2018, fourteen SWAT police busted through the door of Ashlea Burr and Mario Daugherty's Louisville Kentucky home. Aside from the fact that the cops had the wrong address, this no-knock warrant was issued based on Det. Joseph Tapp's claim that he had smelled marijuana outside the couple's home.

In Kentucky, growing up to 5 marijuana plants is a Class A misdemeanor.

That warrant defies all logic, and signals to systemic corruption of law enforcement run amok. Using "the smell of marijuana" as a pretext to deny 4th Amendment rights is a tactic that fascists use more and more frequently and in ever increasing stakes. It was used on me 30+ years ago when I was a patchouli wearing hippie following the Grateful Dead.

We must rescind this tool of the man. Legalize for the economy, legalize for our freedom, but most of all, legalize to disempower the aggressors who are neither protecting nor serving. Legalize to help end racism.

I am aggregating incidents where police use "the smell of marijuana" as carte blanche to carry out a fascist agenda. Please add any egregious examples.