Richmond's official aroma should be weed

Richmond, you delighted us with your suggestions for our official city aroma.

There were the smells we miss, like Ukrop's fried chicken in every corner of town (though folks near the Village still get to enjoy it), tobacco via cigarettes in the Fan or curing in Shockoe warehouses, and FFV Cookies baked goods.

The seasonal and neighborhood-specific ones, like the scent of "late-summer river — kinda fishy, kinda poopy, still fun," "the Canal after a rainstorm" and the sewage treatment plant in South Richmond.

The food-centric ones, like roasting coffee, barbecue smoking, spices from the Sauer plant and "the hoppy aroma of craft beer brewing.

But there is one smell that overwhelmingly permeates the Richmond air and should be our official city aroma, according to y'all, and we agree: weed.

Whether it's wafting through grocery store parking lots, seeping out of your neighbor's window, or scenting the air of every public park — or any quasi-public space — weed is the smell of Richmond.