Police departments around the country, who really should’ve learned their lesson about trying to make hip and cool jokes online by now, raced to Twitter on Thursday to mark stoner holiday 4/20 with un-funny jokes about how they’re going to bust you for pot. Ha ha ha!
Get it, it’s funny, because it’s not like 15 states have laws on drug testing residents applying for public assistance or conflicting laws that say your employer can still fire you for failing a drug test even in states where marijuana is legal!
The city of Wyoming, MN, (population 8,000, and proud owner of a viral 4/20 post from last year) also got in on the fun:
In Iowa, these friendly coppers jokingly suggested you call the police on your stoned-ass self:
Then there was this reminder from the New York State Police:
And just LOOK at these fun guys. It’s Snoop Dogg, that weed-smoking rapper we all know and love!!!
Then there were the Denver police, who at least patrol in a state that voted to legalize recreational weed in 2012. The department’s Twitter account posted a GIF from a video they released last year which features uniformed officers breakdancing, souped-up, bouncing cars on hydraulics, and this not-cringeworthy-at-all caption.
What these riotous posts won’t tell you is that communities of color have been ravaged by the War on Drugs. Even in states that have legal weed, black people remain twice as likely to be picked up by police than their white peers. In other regions of the country, black residents are up to four times as likely to be busted, despite smoking weed at nearly the same rate as white people. A generation of black men remains behind bars for drug crimes. So let’s maybe save the memes for Valentine’s Day, shall we?