St. Paul, MN: The odor of marijuana emanating from a vehicle is insufficient grounds to justify a warrantless police search, according to a ruling last week by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
The majority affirmed a pair of lower court verdicts. Justices opined that the smell of cannabis alone is not probable cause of a crime because state law permits its possession and use in certain circumstances. (Minnesota lawmakers legalized medical cannabis in 2014 and approved the possession of certain hemp-derived intoxicating products in 2022. Lawmakers legalized the possession of adult-use marijuana products this year.)
The majority’s opinion stated: “The State essentially asks us to create a bright-line rule by holding that the odor of marijuana emanating from a vehicle, on its own, will always create the requisite probable cause to search a vehicle. Our precedent, however, shows that we have shied away from bright-line rules regarding probable cause and we have never held that the odor of marijuana (or any other substance), alone, is sufficient to create the requisite probable cause to search a vehicle. … In the absence of any other evidence, … the evidence of the medium-strength odor of marijuana, on its own, is insufficient to establish a fair probability that the search would yield evidence of criminally illegal drug-related contraband or conduct.”
The court’s decision is similar to recent rulings in other states, including Delaware and Pennsylvania. Lawmakers in certain states, such as Connecticut and Virginia, have recently enacted legislation explicitly forbidding police from executive motor vehicle searches based solely upon the scent of cannabis.
In Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that police cannot engage in the warrantless search of a person based solely upon the odor of marijuana. Separate legislation enacted in 2023 forbids police from initiating a stop or search of a motor vehicle based upon the odor of cannabis.
The case is State vs. Torgerson.