MI Supreme Court: Marijuana scent alone not cause for searches

DETROIT — The Michigan Supreme Court has announced that the scent of marijuana does not provide enough cause for law enforcement to conduct a vehicle search without a warrant. In a 5-1 decision, the court overturned firearm charges against an individual whose vehicle was searched in Detroit back in 2020.
The decision follows the 2018 change in Michigan law that permits individuals aged 21 and older to possess and consume small amounts of marijuana, although its use inside a vehicle remains prohibited.
Justice Megan Cavanagh, who authored the majority opinion, noted, “The smell of marijuana might just as likely indicate that the person is in possession of a legal amount of marijuana, recently used marijuana legally, or was simply in the presence of someone else who used marijuana.”
As per the ruling, the scent of marijuana “no longer constitutes probable cause sufficient to support a search for contraband,” Cavanagh stated.
This opinion aligns with previous decisions made by two lower courts. Additionally, in a similar vein, the Illinois Supreme Court arrived at a comparable conclusion in September. Illinois legalized marijuana possession in 2019.
In the Illinois ruling, Justice P. Scott Neville Jr. emphasized, “There are now a myriad of situations where cannabis can be used and possessed, and the smell resulting from that legal use and possession is not indicative of the commission of a criminal offense.”
However, in Michigan, there was one dissenting voice. Justice Brian Zahra expressed that he believed the case should be sent back to a Detroit-area court for further evaluation to ascertain if there was any other evidence that could justify the search of the vehicle by the police.