New York State Assemblyman Steve Katz was going 80 mph in a 65 mph zone when the cop pulled him over.

The cop smelled marijuana, and a search revealed a “small bag.” Katz was charged with possession.

The charge isn’t a huge deal in New York anymore. Katz paid a $100 fine and did some paperwork. But here’s the twist: Katz, a Republican, had voted against a New York medical marijuana bill the year before he himself was busted.

Obviously, not an ideal situation for a politician. But Katz appears to be making the most of his run-in with the law. Since the assemblyman was arrested, he’s completely flipped stances on the issue of marijuana prohibition. He even joined ArcView, the network for marijuana companies and investors.

Countercurrent News reports [emphasis mine]:

The marijuana bust was “an epiphany,” he explained. “You’re turning me into a criminal? You got to be kidding.”

Katz says he knows doctors, lawyers, businessmen and pillars of their community who all use marijuana.

“We’re all criminals? This is ridiculous,” he emphasized.

The arrest he faced “didn’t change anything other than make me decide that I was going to not only be a champion for medical marijuana, and for its total legalization, I was going to become part of the wave that’s building in the industry itself. It’s a great feeling. It’s very liberating.”

This incident is part of a much larger trend. The U.S. prohibition on marijuana appears to be ending. Nobody wants to arrest people over marijuana anymore, save for a few diehards.

The social stigma is ending too. Walking around San Francisco these days, one can’t help but notice that skunky smell from time to time. None of the locals seem to think anything’s out of place, nor do the cops.

Just this week Oregon legalized recreational marijuana statewide. No medical prescription required. More than 200 shops in the state began selling pot at 12:00 a.m. Thursday.