(LANSING) - The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that the odor of marijuana itself is not enough to establish probable cause to search a vehicle without a warrant.
The Court decided by a 5-2 vote the police can no longer rely just solely on the smell of marijuana to justify searches under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement.
This ruling by the Supreme Court will reflect the impact of Michigan's 2018 voter approved legalization of recreational marijuana for adults who are 21 and older. The decision results from cases, including People v Armstrong, and another that involves a traffic stop, where officers detected the odor of marijuana and a later search also found other contraband.
The Supreme Court did say that probable cause must be based on the totality of circumstances and a reasonable likelihood of discovering evidence of a crime, not merely a civil infraction.
The Court says evidence that suggests only a low-level marijuana violation, including odor, does not meet the Constitutional threshold for a warrantless search.
According to legal observers, the ruling strengthens protections against unreasonable searches in the post-legalization era and may require officers to identify additional indicators of criminal activity before searching vehicles.