My question involves criminal law for the state of: New Jersey
I'm 17 years old and I was driving through an unfamiliar town one day and I guess a car saw my friends rolling a blunt and they decided to call the cops. My friends got to spark the blunt but then lit it out after we realized it was "hot". So I guess it could have smelled like marijuana in the car. The cops came soon enough and pulled me over. I rolled my window down like halfway so the cop wouldn't smell the weed but he did and he said it smelled like weed. He asked me to step out of the car and I did and I told him that I did not consent to any searches. He said that he doesn't need consent because he has probable cause, that he smelled weed. I told him that I didn't smell any weed so I still do not consent to any searches but if you really have probable cause then go ahead and search. So they did, they took me and my friends out of the car and searched all of us 1 by 1. I denied having anything on me and I didn't and I denied having anything in my car. It was me and 5 other friends in my car. 3 of us are 17, 2 are 16, and the other is 18. Eventually one of my friends cracked and they found the blunt. I'm not exactly sure whether my friend had it on him and he gave it to the cop or if he threw it in my car and then told him where it was. Either way they had found a blunt. At the end they let all 5 of my friends go and they said I was the only one being charged because I had not "cooperated" because I was denying that I had weed on me or in my car. They told me that I would have to go to court and that my license would be taken away for a year or 2. But for some reason they didn't give me a ticket, a summons, or any paperwork like that. They just took down our names, addresses, and home phone numbers and let us go. But I was thinking, possession of marijuana is a crime so if you commit a crime technically you should be arrested on the spot and then taken to the headquarters right? So if I wasn't arrested is it possible that they let me go and they just told me all that to scare me? They told us to tell our parents before they call them in a few days. I'm hoping they said all that to scare us into telling our parents ourselves so we would stop smoking. And that they aren't going to charge me for it. He told me that I would be mailed a letter with a court date. So that's the situation..I'm not sure whether they let us go..or if I really am going to get mailed a letter? This is my first offense and I am a minor..so what's the worst that can happen to me? And will this stay on my record? Should I get a lawyer? Any help will be greatly appreciated..thanks.

