Privatenuisance--since you've been active in responding to this thread, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind answering a few questions for me.

I'm a public defender. I get clients like you all the time. Can you please help me understand your decision making process? I mean, you like to smoke pot, fine. Lots of people do. But why would you ever drive around with it in your car? Why not just buy the weed from your dealer, drive home, use it at home, and not have used pot, paraphernalia, and that weed smell in your vehicle? A prosecutor friend of mine even mentioned this to me once. He said that if you just do your drugs at home, we'll never catch you.

And if you've made a hobby of smoking pot, why wouldn't you learn a little bit of 4th amendment law? I don't expect you to pass the bar or anything, but there are ample resources online which help you understand and assert your rights. For example, in this situation, you could have simply refused to answer the officer's question, and you would now not be in any trouble. Learning your rights takes a few hours and can save you from a criminal record, jail time, fines, losing the weed you have on you, and other serious consequences. Why would you not bother to do this?

Finally, my small bit of legal advice for you. The stop might not have been legal. Stopping a vehicle for "suspicious behavior" absent a traffic violation is legally questionable, and a good lawyer might be able to help you. (However, a smart cop would've waited for you to commit a traffic violation, which he likely did, seeing how he followed you for six blocks first.)