Cops pretend to smoke giant joint and hot box a car in video about new cannabis laws

Two Illinois police officers pretend to smoke a joint and hotbox a car in a video meant to educate residents about new cannabis laws. 

In the video, which is cheekily titled ‘Up in Smoke,’ two officers dressed as stoner comedy duo Cheech & Chong sit inside a parked car with waves of smoke billowing from the open windows.

One officer scarfs down a bag of Doritos while the other pretends to smoke a rolled up piece of construction paper meant to be a fake joint. 

‘What highway are we on,’ the officer in the passenger seat asks.

The officer in the driver’s set replies: ‘I don’t know. I just see a bunch of bricks and walls. Maybe we’re next to a castle or something, man.’

Two officers with the Park Forest Police Department parodied Cheech & Chong in a video meant to inform Illinois residents about new laws surrounding cannabis 

The two continue to chat in a daze, when suddenly a patrol vehicle from the Park Forest Police Station parks behind them and goes to inspect the vehicle.  

The driver, unaware that he was parked, asks the responding officer how fast he was driving. 

‘You’re actually parked in the parking lot of the police department,’ the officer says. 

The video then transitions to members of the Park Forest Police Department spelling out the dos and don’ts of marijuana consumption.  

The video ends with the phrase: ‘If you drive high, you’ll get a DUI.’

The two officers smoke a fake joint and eat Doritos while unknowingly sitting in the Park Forest Police Department parking lot

The two officers smoke a fake joint and eat Doritos while unknowingly sitting in the Park Forest Police Department parking lot 

The two officers are eventually approached by a Park Forest Police Department officer who informs them at they're sitting in the department parking lot

The two officers are eventually approached by a Park Forest Police Department officer who informs them at they’re sitting in the department parking lot

This Dazed and Confused style video comes after recreational marijuana was legalized for adults in Illinois, and authorities attempting to educate the public about the law. 

Illinoians enjoyed their first day of legal cannabis sales at the start of January, but the Chicago Tribune reports that authorities are facing challenges training officers on new protocol and informing residents about what’s allowed. 

Local department chiefs say education is currently ongoing, but gray areas and unanswered questions make it difficult to adequately proceed.  

Tinley Park Chief Matthew Walsh said: ‘There are a lot more questions than answers. There is going to be a learning curve.’

‘A lot of people don’t understand all the restrictions,’ said Christopher Mannino, Park Forest’s police chief. 

He added that people have a perception ‘that it is a legal free-for-all.’

Pictured: a Park Forest Police Department officer

Pictured: a Park Forest Police Department officer

After the skit, the two officers talked about the dos and don’ts of cannabis possession and consumption

According to Illinois law, residents 21 or older can legally purchase up to 30 grans, or an ounce, of marijuana flower from a licensed retailer.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office will no longer be prosecuting low-level possession crimes, meaning that purchasing from street dealers carries a penalty comparable to getting a parking ticket. 

Communities like Park Forest are just starting to divert possession cases, excluding cases with amounts large enough to be trafficking charges, to municipal court where a fine is the maximum punishment. 

‘There is a wide variety of approaches,’ Mannino said, adding that officers now have more discretion on how or whether to charge residents. 

Possession of more than 30 grams can be charged as a Class A misdemeanor with penalties up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. 

New laws dictate that marijuana carried inside a vehicle should be sealed in a child resistant, odor-proof container that is kept out of site.

McCarthy said: ‘We should never see it or smell it.’

Park Forest officer then tell viewers: 'If you drive high, you’ll get a DUI'

Park Forest officer then tell viewers: ‘If you drive high, you’ll get a DUI’ 

The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police says that adults walking with a plastic bag of cannabis, as long as it’s under an ounce,’ is all good. 

Another area of confusion are field sobriety tests geared towards cannabis, with many officers forced to rely on ‘reasonable suspicion.’

Drivers with five nongrams of THC in one mililiter of blood, or 10 nanograms in fluids like saliva or urine, are considered under the influence. 

McCarthy said: ‘We would like to have an instrument to have people blow into and come up with a definite number.’

There have been some testing done with saliva tests, but it only shows the presence of THC in the system and not if an individual is impaired. 

Getting conclusive evidence that someone is impaired can sometimes mean getting a search warrant to draw blood, which is difficult since officers only have a two-hour window for a judge to sign off on a warrant. 

‘It’s almost impossible,’ McCarthy said.  

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk