In both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, recent state Supreme Court rulings have made it markedly easier for police to search for marijuana. The high courts in both states have decreed that police only need smell the pungent odor of weed to conduct an immediate search — without the need for a warrant from the judge. "It opened the floodgates," said Eric Morrell, a defense lawyer based in New Brunswick, N.J.
Some police commanders say they have stepped up drug enforcement overall to tackle the opioid epidemic, and marijuana arrests are up accordingly.
Other commanders, backed up by a number of defense lawyers, assert that the growing cultural acceptance of pot has, ironically, helped fuel the boom in arrests. As more jurisdictions such as Philadelphia have begun treating marijuana with leniency, the argument goes, people have become more flagrant in its use, leading to more busts.
"There is a disconnect," said Abington Police Chief Patrick Molloy. "So many people, they hear what happened in Philadelphia and they think the entire state decriminalized it."
Gary Lomanno, a South Jersey defense lawyer, sees the same attitude.
"I hear it from people, 'It's only a little pot — what's the big deal?' I hear it constantly," Lomanno said. "You don't know how many people come in and say it's legal."