Police Officer Allows Teen to do Pushups Instead of Facing Jail for Smoking Cannabis
News about police officers arresting people who are in possession of cannabis are a dime a dozen, but every so often there’s positive news to be had regarding the interactions between cannabis users and the law. One Texan police officer allowed a teen, who was in possession of cannabis, to do 200 pushups instead of jail time.
An off-duty police officer, Eric Ball, was told that a teenager was smoking outside of a movie theater in late December. When he approached the area, the teen finished the “cigarette” and threw it away. The smell of cannabis was still lingering, and Ball questioned the teenager. The teen is said to have responded respectfully, admitting that it was a mistake. Officer Ball decided to allow the youth to complete 200 pushups instead of being arrested and taken to jail.
Lieutenant Chris Cook of the Arlington police department commented on the incident, “He said, ‘You give me 200 push-ups, I won’t put you in jail.’” This isn’t the usual punishment for police officers to give to cannabis offenders, but the relaxed punishment was well received by the teenager, as well as social media after a video of the teen doing push-ups was posted online. “He could have very well arrested this teen, but instead he tried to do something better,” Lieutenant Cook added.
The situation could have ended much differently if the teen was arrested and put in jail, like so many other cannabis consumers. The teen was obviously underage, but thanks to the growing acceptance of cannabis across the nation, some local police understand that there is little harm smoking cannabis.
