Tennessee

Yes, the officer did state that he thought he smelled marijuana. There was no pot. That's quite correct.

Your point about the Fourth Amendment is important, too. It seems, though, that there is a legally perceived/created
loophole around that - if one considers the document from Massachusetts which I found online. If that document's
presented analysis is accurate, the reality of the situation seems to be that there is no shield by the Fourth Amendment in a case such as this. (I'm not arguing that this situation is right - only that it seems to exist in this way.)

So, all that a police officer needs to do is form the opinion that he is suspicious (or, worse yet, in fear as happens in
other more lethally ending cases, but that's another serious problem).

What guard is there against the formation of such an opinion? I hesitate to call his statement a lie here, since I cannot
guess his intent. (It could easily be that the several others who claimed that they also thought that the student may
have had pot on him were engaging in some form of group dynamics. Or he may have honestly believed his statement. I don't know.) Such intent is not necessarily automatic, but it is easy to imagine an officer who has decided such opinions are a carte blanche for his actions.

You're right that that there should be a line and that that line should be related to the interpretation of the Fourth Amendment, but what can one do to handle this sort of case? On some level, there needs to be a proper (non-zero) degree of enforcement against drugs in schools, and yet it's not desirable to violate people's rights or throw them around as was done.

It may sound flippant, but it is not intended as such. If verbally or physically accosted by a police officer, perhaps the advice that is given on how to survive a bear attack is near to what should be done: play dead (i.e., be compliant, but say nothing). It's not an optimal situation, but it might prevent physical (and possibly lethal) violence. After surviving if wronged, perhaps remedies in the court can be sought. That is happening here.

Anyway, I wanted to try to write fairer response to you, because I don't think you're wrong in the larger sense of things. It does seem, though, that the legal system has significantly reduced the meaning of the Fourth Amendment from what you see it as. As I said, I don't think that you're wrong about the Fourth Amendment's importance.

Unfortunately, in light of a recent SCOTUS draft opinion, minimizing rights just seems to be what we do here.