Cannabis Smell In Michigan No Longer Enough For Police To Search Someone 

“I smell smoke.” If you’ve been pulled over before and heard those words, you knew you were in trouble. Even if it was a cigarette, if an officer said they smelled smoke, that was enough to conduct a search. Not anymore in Michigan.

Per Fox 2 Detroit

An opinion from the Michigan Supreme Court last week ruled that because pot is legal to purchase in the state for adults, law enforcement cannot justify searching an individual even if they can smell it.

Big picture view:

In a significant ruling handed down by Michigan’s high court, the smell of weed can no longer be the sole cause behind law enforcement establishing probable cause in order to search someone’s motor vehicle. 

Siding with a lower court ruling, the 5-1 decision marks a major shift in police policy when it comes to how they approach the early stages of investigations.

The case stems from a Detroit man’s arrest in October 2020 when, during a routine compliance check, a police officer observed the smell of marijuana coming from a vehicle.

The officer asked the man if he had been smoking marijuana, which he denied. They asked him to exit the vehicle, put him in handcuffs and patted him down. 

Another officer observed a black handgun under the front passenger seat, leading to the man’s arrest and being charged with carrying a concealed weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

However, a trial court ruled that because the handgun was not visible at the time that police said they could smell marijuana. Dig deeper:

In their opinion, the state supreme court sided with both the appeals court and the trial court that first heard the case, ruling that since marijuana is legal for purchase and use in Michigan, just its smell is not a sign of something illegal happening.

“Given that the (Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act) generally decriminalized the adult use of marijuana, the smell of marijuana is no longer necessarily indicative of unlawful activity,” the opinion read.

Because the gun was not discovered in plain view, the arresting officer’s justification for having the individual step out of the vehicle due to the smell of marijuana did not amount to probable cause.

Read more here.