The smell of weed is indeed pretty pervasive these days. They've decriminalized it in Orleans Parish so whatever flimsy pretense was ever in place to keep it out of public view is long gone. It's a lot.
As for the rest of it, I am pretty concerned about the state of the NOPD and our crime rate. We have always led the league (or been near the top) in violent crime but we have fewer officers on the force than at any time since 1978, and its getting worse, for lots of reasons both local and national.
The homeless problem has definitely surged in the last 2 years, Can't tell how much of that is COVID and how much is just a permanent condition. It used to be mostly under the I-10 underpass, but folks are sleeping all over the CBD.