Sniffed Out
My brother had his medical weed card and he had just picked up when a cop pulled him over. The cop smelled weed in the car and my brother, being a freshly minted 18-year-old, submitted to the search. The cop found his stash. My brother had all of his documentation, but this was in Huntington Beach, which has a policy of writing all possession tickets and letting the cardholder work it out in court.
He wasn’t willing to risk trying to defend himself based on having the card and getting a ticket on some technicality that he didn’t understand. He figured $1,500 for a lawyer was worth it rather than having to explain a possession charge any time he’s going for a job that runs a background check. The lawyer got it thrown out immediately.
He did about four hours’ worth of work and got paid very nicely. My brother even got to go down and pick up his stuff from the station, which he said was really bizarre, but he was out the $1,500.