Lansing, MI: Police cannot engage in the warrantless search of a motor vehicle based solely upon the smell of marijuana alone, even in instances where the occupants are under 21 years of age – according to a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court.
The decision overturns a lower court ruling determining that such searches were valid because state law only legalizes marijuana possession for adults. In a 5-2 decision, the majority of the Supreme Court disagreed. It opined that cannabis possession by those under 21 is a civil infraction, not a crime.
“In this case, where the trooper had probable cause to believe that the vehicle contained a small amount of marijuana – i.e., that a civil infraction had occurred, but not that the vehicle contained evidence of a crime – this probable cause was insufficient to support a warrantless search under the automobile exception,” the majority ruled. “That the trooper smelled marijuana was also insufficient, alone or combined with the passenger’s statement indicating that she may have had a small amount of marijuana, to establish probable cause to believe that a criminal amount of marijuana was present in the car.”
Courts in several other states where cannabis is legal for either medical or adult-use purposes – including Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Vermont – have similarly determined that the odor of marijuana, absent other evidence of a crime, does not provide probable cause to justify a warrantless search of a motor vehicle.
Earlier this month, the Michigan Supreme Court unanimously ruled that marijuana use is not a per se probation violation for those age 21 or older.
The case is People v. Wilkins.