You need a bit of a reality check. Not everyone sees the same world you do. Think about it from a law enforcement perspective.
99% of the time we see a young black guy in a car with an older white guy it's because some form of narcotics transaction. 20 year olds and 40 year olds don't usually ride around together. The other reason, and probably likely because this is a problem down south, is that they're planning a home invasion. If you think that someone is going to do something like that, it's your job to investigate it. Again most times we have a feeling someone is up to no good, they're up to no good. The reason he didn't pull you over right away is because he was running the plate to see if the car was stolen and the owners criminal record.
Why did he have his gun out? Talk to your buddy. In all likelihood, he has some kind of prior for fighting or posession and the cop wasn't taking any chances. Look at who kills each other in record numbers and who kills police officers in this country. It's young black males with illegally obtained handguns. You mentioned you're from the south east. It's much easier for people to buy handguns down there, so I can't blame him at all for approaching the car with his gun ready. To them it looks like a drug transaction or worse and more than half the time we stop a suspected drug dealer, they're carrying a weapon.
They took you guys out of the car to check for weapons. This is routine when you have a suspected drug transaction. The reason your friend was put in cuffs is because he was the driver. Anything in that car that is found becomes his. They didn't want him running. You weren't in cuffs because you had nothing on your person. You can bet your ass you would have gone right into cuffs if they found anything around your seat, but even then if you didn't say it was yours the police still charge the driver.
If the cops smelled weed, the cops smelled weed. It's an unmistakeable smell. You can hop on this anti-police bandwagon and say that there as no smell of weed, but you aren't in that car all the time. You have no idea if your buddy bakes that car out on the regular. I have friends who smoke in their cars and when I get in I can smell it and I tell them I'm not riding in it, and out of 4 people in the car I'm the only one who can smell it.
Next, while conducting a search of a vehicle, the passenger who isn't even involved opens his mouth and starts running it. You don't know what these cops day has been like. They're doing their job, all you have to do is sit there and comply and you wont get yourself into issues, but you decided to start running your mouth. Try saying that to anyone doing their job and they're going to get pissed at you. Police aren't robots, they're people as well.
Again, you aren't with your friend all the time, you have no idea where he comes and goes from. If they're saying they saw his car, they're more than likely trying to get information from him by some form of admission, but it's an interrogation tactic, not lying. This is another area where your ignorance of police work shows.
As far as the tickets go, cops can't just make up tickets. It doesn't happen. Your whole post is full of embellishments and blatant lies. That's why you used a throwaway. This post should really be deleted, but it wont because reddit loves to hate on law enforcement.
So let's recap from a law enforcement perspective: