During the past few months several stars have been busted for little more than the possession of pot. It is incredible that, in 2017, when 29 states and the District of Columbia have medical marijuana laws on the books cops are still cracking down on celebrities for cannabis.

Don’t they get it? Each time they make an arrest, it does nothing but enhance the reputation of the person doing the so-called perpetrating, while placing another arrow in the quiver of pot activists around the nation. 

For example, look at rapper Young Thug. The creator of the album “Beautiful Thugger Girls” was pulled over in Brookhaven, Georgia a few weeks ago for having tinted windows in his car. However, according to reports, the cops then searched the vehicle and found $50,000 in cash, along with guns, and 2.5 ounces of weed. Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey, is now facing multiple felony charges — Thug Life.  

Better known as a former child star for his roles in eighties classics such as “The Goonies” and “The Lost Boys,” Corey Feldman was arrested last month after his band’s tour bus was pulled over for speeding on the way to a show in Louisiana. It turns out the former vampire hunter and pirate treasure seeker was driving on a suspended license when the cop noticed the smell of weed, and searched the vehicle. Feldman was charged with misdemeanor possession, driving under suspension, and speeding. He paid his $640 fine and moved on with his life.  

Buses are a bit of a theme with these celeb busts. Singer-Songwriter Melissa Etheridge was sleeping on her tour bus when it was pulled over in the middle of the night by Customs and Border Protection agents this summer in North Dakota while traveling back from a gig in Alberta, Canada.

Etheridge told the press that she has been medicating herself with cannabis since being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, and found it weird that the Ward County sheriff who booked her knew that North Dakota had just voted to legalize medical marijuana. “Nobody seems to know what to do,” she told Variety. However, Etheridge says she feels like a “rock star now” that she has a weed bust under her belt, adding, “I’m in good company.”

She’s not wrong — if a person is judged by the company they keep then these guys are in some peer group.

Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson:

Like Etheridge, Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson were pulled over in their tour buses (albeit two years apart) by the border patrol. However, in Snoop and Willie’s case they were down south near Sierra Blanca, Texas. Snoop freely admitted to the sticky-icky being his and took his citation on the chin in 2012.

Perhaps Snoop jinxed himself with his infamous comment made at the time of Willie Nelson’s arrest at the very same checkpoint: “They better leave Willie the fuck alone,” Snoop said in 2010.

David Bowie:

In 1976, a 28-year-old Bowie along with a couple of friends (including Iggy Pop) were arrested in his hotel room in Rochester, New York for the possession of cannabis. Bowie paid everyone’s bonds and even managed to get a preliminary court hearing for April 20. Ultimately, the grand jury decided not to move forward and indict the British rock star.

Bob Marley:

Arguably the greatest cannabis icon of all time, Marley was living in London when he showed the world that he was willing to “get up, stand up” and “don’t give up the fight” after being arrested, and fined by the cops for cannabis possession in 1977.

Lennon and McCartney:

The two most famous Beatles both discovered themselves on the wrong side of cannabis laws.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono were arrested in their London home for possession in 1968 — drug-sniffing police dogs found some hashish, a joint-rolling machine with some traces of weed still in it, and a small amount of morphine. Lennon pled guilty and was fined 150 pounds (roughly $3,300 in U.S. dollars, today).  

More than a decade later, while on tour with his band Wings in 1980, Paul McCartney was caught going through Japanese customs at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport with half a pound of pot in his luggage. The now knightley Sir Paul spent 10 miserable nights in jail before being deported. “It was the daftest thing I’ve done in my entire life,” McCartney later told the BBC.

Well, quite.