The mere smell of burnt cannabis is insufficient to justify a warrantless search of a car, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The conviction stems from a 2020 traffic stop of Ryan Redmond, who police said had an improperly secured registration on his license plate and was traveling 73 mph in a 70 mph zone on Interstate 80 near the Quad Cities in western Illinois.
State Trooper Hayden Combs said he smelled a strong odor of burnt cannabis coming from the car, prompting him to search the vehicle, where he found a gram of cannabis inside the center console in a plastic bag, according to the verdict.
The officer said he did not smell marijuana on Redmond, who denied smoking in the car, and saw no signs of impairment. Redmond did not produce his license or registration, and the officer said he gave evasive answers. But he told police he was traveling on I-80 from Des Moines to where he lived in Chicago, along what police called a “known drug corridor.”
Prosecutors charged Redmond with illegal possession of cannabis. Although state lawmakers legalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis, starting in 2020, drivers are not allowed to smoke in their vehicles.
But the state Supreme Court ruled 6-0 that without other suspicious circumstances, such as a driver’s failure to stop in time, or a bump in plain sight, the search was unwarranted.
“Cannabis laws have changed so drastically that the smell of burnt cannabis, standing alone, is insufficient to provide probable cause for a police officer to search a vehicle without a warrant,” Judge Scott Neville Jr. wrote.
The justices cited a previous case in stating that “cannabis should be regulated in a manner similar to alcohol,” where possession is generally legal but remains illegal in certain circumstances.
Courts from some other states, such as Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, have also ruled that the smell of burnt pot alone does not justify a search.
But the court cautioned that police can still consider the smell of burnt marijuana as part of the general circumstances that might justify a search. The decision contradicts a previous decision from before Illinois legalized pot.
This is a development story. Check back for updates.
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