And they, Racer72, would be dicks.
If need be, we can go back and provide cites to numerous threads on the mistake of granting police the permission to search your car, as well as a little thing like the U.S. Constitution.
Let’s go over it again: warrant or reasonable suspicion, not because they feel like it.
Well think about what might happen if the girl claims that wasn’t HER straw. It was your car, so the next logical step for the police to make is that it was YOUR straw.
I am a forensic drug chemist, and I’ve had to analyze much smaller quantities of drugs than what the police took from you. I can extract enough THC from less than a hundredth of a gram and still feel comfortable testifying in court. Of course, you probably will get off with a slap on the wrist for the tiny amount of marijuana and the residue on the straw, even if they do press charges.
Also, please don’t whine about how you “just went to look at the stars.” You admit you were doing something, and you were probably acting a lot more wacky than you may realize… that’s probable cause, which is all they need to search you and your car.
One thing I’m sick of is the lack of responsibility of people these days. YOU chose to do drugs, YOU chose to bring minors along, YOU chose to consent to a search (which you do have a right to refuse for any or no reason, ASSUMING they dont’ have probable cause), so dont’ whine that you got caught. Maybe you’ll get lucky and they won’t want to do the paperwork, but given the (IMO nuisance) quantities of drugs I have to analyze every day, I highly doubt that they will give up. Be advised though that if you are found guilty or plead guilty, you will most likely be charged for a minimum of a few hundred dollars in court costs. These costs go up if you insist on bringing an expert witness to testify, so you actually might get off cheap if you plead guilty. Once again, I don’t know the law in Atlanta, but where I am, the amount of weed you have to possess to have a MANDATORY sentence is somewhere on the order of pounds, not fractions of a gram.
If I had refused the search of my car, would that have caused them to pursue any further legal action towards me? There wasn’t any obvious illegal materials out at all, so the cop could look in the windows with a flashlight and not see anything that would merit a search without a warrant. I may be naive about some of these sort of things, but I grew up on the idea that police officers caught the bad guys and stood for truth and honesty and all that shit. That image is starting to slip. I don’t know, maybe I just never considered myself an actual “criminal,” considering I don’t really have any ill intentions towards anyone and I really just wanted to take my chick to see some shooting stars. Shit, now I’m turning it into an ethical debate, but I’m just having trouble coping with not being able to see her any more. Guess I’ll get over it. I know those guys were just doing their jobs, but who would pick that as a career? I’m not seeing any honor in it at the moment.
Oh, and about getting a subpoena in a few weeks… depending on how backlogged the labs are, you might not see one for a month or two. Maybe a year if they forget to send it in.
Uh, Cinyrus, haven’t you ever watched Cops???
I don’t think you get to ask them questions.
Sorry, didn’t preview 
Well, to be fair, as a female, it’s not exactly an attractive quality in a man to be charged/arrested otherwise for drug related offenses.
As far as honor, yes, there are cops who believe in that sort of thing, I’d like to think most do. On the other hand, there are a few who are on power trips.
Come to think of it though, I’m not sure about the probable cause (IANAL and IANACop)… I know that strange behavior is probable cause for them to perform sobriety tests, but not sure about the search. It’s never too late to contact a lawyer though, and it would do you good to contact one for a consultation, rather than listening to random people give you advice online
<lecture>As far as being an actual “criminal,” think of it this way. Sure, you doing drugs might be a casual habit. But your dealer lies, cheats, steals, and maybe even kills. Supporting him/her financially indirectly results in someone getting hurt somewhere… just food for thought, I know I must sound like the cliched “drugs are bad” thing, but as part of my training, I’ve had to study a lot of the physiological and psychological effects of drugs and addiction… it ain’t pretty. Even if that doesn’t dissuade you, think of the game of Russian roulette you’re playing. Check out some of the other threads (search for “cutting cocaine” for example…) Someone might sell/give you a drug, and it could be something that kills you. Now THAT would put a damper on your love life…</lecture>
Fuck it, it’s getting too ethical and I have enough going on without a responsibility speech from every goddamn amatuer philosopher on this website. I guess people were just so much more responsible “back in the day,” huh?
Thanks for the advice and information everybody.
Please disregard the bitter statement above, kunoichi. It was out of hand.
Well, bite the bullet, pay a lawyer, and grow up then. Ethics and legality kinda go hand in hand… if you’re going to criticize the cops for ethical things, take some criticism yourself.
Ok… then I apologize for my kneejerk reaction
Darn internet connect is so freaking slow, I hate previewing 
Advice doesn’t exist in a vacuum; you asked for advice, and your story made it clear that you got a lucky break, yet you’re whining that people are being mean to you. WTF? Last time I checked, marijuana was still illegal. No doubt so was the “other stuff” you were on.
Ill intentions and criminal behavior are two different animals. Buying illegal drugs is a criminal act. Taking illegal drugs is a criminal act. Contributing toward the delinquency of a minor is a criminal act; that covers curfew, drugs and sex acts right there. I’m guessing there are laws in GA about driving while impaired as well. Just because you don’t commit burglary to support your drug purchases doesn’t mean it’s not criminal behavior.
I see where Cinyrus is coming from and I don’t believe he did anything wrong. Cinyrus also obviously holds this opinion. Fact is though, the law doesn’t agree with us (despite how asinine it may be) and the possible consequence you may face (though unwarranted) shouldn’t be without surprise.
Best of luck, and do let us know if the anything happens as a result of this (if simply to appease my curiosity).
I think the jist of what a lot of people are saying in “amatuer philosopher” mode is something you might want to pay serious attention to. This is not an “smartness” issue as you are obviously quite intelligent, it’s a common sense, life experience issue.
Your OP positively resonates with adolescent indignation at being hassled and intimidated and yet you are no longer legally an adolescent. For whatever reason society sets the arbitrary age of 18 as being an adult which (quite frankly) is a concept you don’t seem to have fully embraced.
The touching vignette of a secluded romantic location at 3AM in the morning + two minor 16 year old girls past curfew, + two adult 18 year old boys + admitted casual drug use, whether you judge it to be fair or not is a scenario ripe for problems on many levels even without the police sticking their noses into it.
It is unlikely (though not guaranteed) that the authorities will come after you at this point unless they are bored or you irritate them beyond reason. You dodged a huge bullet that night and the tone of your OP indicates to many of us that you haven’t grasped how insanely stupid and irresponsible it was for two adult men to be in the situation you found yourselves.
You can shrug off all the lectures you want and in the end this is simply message board advice you can accept or disregard as you are inclined, but you guys really need to wake up to the fact that you are eminently prosecutable adults, not wayward minors at this point.
As a side note, out of curiosity what kind of parents allow their 16 year daughters to stay out till 3 in the morning with 18 year old men. Quite frankly that issue is a lot more puzzling to me than any of the other standard drama you mentioned in your OP.