Smell of marijuana isn't enough to justify a search, Illinois Supreme Court rules

The scent of cannabis smoke alone is not enough to justify a police search of a vehicle, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

In a 6-0 ruling, the court found that cannabis laws in Illinois had evolved to the point that just catching a whiff of burnt weed is no longer enough probable cause for police to search a vehicle.

Thursday’s opinion upholds two lower court rulings that threw out evidence — an ounce of marijuana — found in the car of a Chicago man who was pulled over for driving 3 miles over the speed limit on Interstate 80 in September 2020, nine months after cannabis was legalized in Illinois.

“Since January 1, 2020, the use and possession of cannabis is presumptively lawful, subject to certain restrictions,” Justice P. Scott Neville Jr. wrote for the majority. “We hold that the odor of burnt cannabis, alone, is insufficient to provide probable cause for police officers to perform a warrantless search of a vehicle.”

A separate case, dealing with raw marijuana's distinct odor, has yet to be decided by the court.

The court’s ruling notes that driver Ryan Redmond pulled over immediately when he was stopped and did not seem impaired. No drugs, smoke or paraphernalia were visible inside the car until the trooper found a baggie inside the car’s center console.

While the smell of cannabis and other factors could be enough to prompt a search, the court found the trooper’s belief that Redmond was traveling in a "known drug corridor" was also not enough basis to search his car.

The ruling could affect any case involving a vehicle search that was initiated after an officer smelled cannabis smoke, according to Crystal Brown, a supervisor in the felony division of the Cook County public defender's office.

Brown said she has watched body camera footage of similar stops for years, noting that attorneys often struggle to challenge the legality of the resulting searches.

"It's impossible to disprove a smell," she said. "There is no evidence that shows up on body camera, there's no bottle of alcohol on the floor. It's just a smell and what that officer says."