The Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the smell of burnt cannabis alone is not enough to justify a warrantless search of a vehicle, marking a significant shift in how law enforcement can approach traffic stops involving cannabis.
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The ruling comes from a 2020 case involving Ryan Redmond, who was pulled over for minor traffic violations on Interstate 80. The state trooper who stopped Redmond claimed to smell burnt cannabis, which led to a search of the car.
The officer found one gram of cannabis, although Redmond denied smoking in the vehicle, showed no signs of impairment, and cannabis possession is legal in Illinois within certain limits.
In a unanimous 6-0 decision, the court concluded that the changing cannabis laws in Illinois mean the smell of burnt cannabis, by itself, does not provide probable cause for a vehicle search. Justice Scott Neville Jr., who authored the opinion, emphasized that without additional suspicious factors, such as visible cannabis or signs of impairment, police cannot rely solely on the smell to conduct a search. The ruling aligns with decisions from other states, including Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, which have also found that the odor of marijuana alone does not justify a search.
The court did clarify, however, that while the smell of burnt cannabis is insufficient by itself, it can still be considered as part of the overall context in determining whether a search is warranted. This ruling contrasts with a prior Illinois decision made before the state legalized recreational cannabis in 2020. Now, cannabis is regulated similarly to alcohol, where possession is lawful under certain circumstances but remains illegal under others, such as smoking while driving.
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