A ruling by the Supreme Court has established that if a car smells like cannabis, a police search of the vehicle by police is justified.
A 4-3 majority has over ruled previous lower court ruling that said the smells of cannabis and legal CBD were indistinguishable and therefore police could not be sure if they were smelling illegal product.
The Associated Press reports that, the ruling was related to the 2019 case of Quaheem Moore in 2019, whose vehicle was searched after police officers claimed it smelt of cannabis after being pulled over for speeding.
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As the car was a rental, Moore argued that the police had no evidence the smell was caused by him, and courts had previously tried to disqualify the drugs that police found as the search was believed to be illegal.
Joshua Hargrove, Moore’s attorney, stated of the new ruling: “This opinion could subject more citizens engaged in lawful behavior to arrest.”
Justice Rebecca Frank Dallet wrote: “Officers who believe they smell marijuana coming from a vehicle may just as likely be smelling raw or smoked hemp, which is not criminal activity.”
