Police in Minnesota will no longer be able to conduct a warrantless search of a person’s vehicle based solely on the odor of cannabis.
Previously, police were able to conduct warrantless searches if they claimed to smell marijuana odor inside a vehicle, but now that recreational marijuana has been legalized in Minnesota, the state Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that the searches were no longer legal.
“Because we conclude that the odor of marijuana emanating from a vehicle, alone, is insufficient to create the requisite probable cause to search a vehicle under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement, we affirm,” McKeig wrote for the majority, according to a report from MinnPost.
Legislation that was signed into law in late May as part of a larger judiciary and public safety supplemental budget bill codified the 2023 Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that banned the warrantless searches based on marijuana smell alone.
Warrantless Drug Searches
The move follows measures that were already taken in the city of Minneapolis. As we talked about last April, in an effort to ease tensions and improve law enforcement policies, the city of Minneapolis opted to stop conducting warrantless vehicle searches based solely on the smell of marijuana.
“MPD will require that officers will not conduct a search of an individual, a vehicle, contents of the vehicle, or persons in a vehicle if the sole basis of the search is based upon an officer smelling cannabis/marijuana. This provision does not prevent officers from conducting a field sobriety test during a vehicle stop,” read an agreement made by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the city of Minneapolis.
Under the new policy, police officers will need to find more evidence that marijuana was recently used or that the driver is under the influence of marijuana before they can conduct a warrantless search.
“That could be an interview with the driver, or there could be observations of evidence the car that are in plain view that indicate that marijuana was just recently used in the vehicle,” said Mike Hanson, director of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety. “So instead of just smelling the odor of marijuana and then conducting the search, the officer has to put more work into building the pieces that make that probable cause puzzle come together to then justify the search.”
It’s encouraging that the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision was codified into law to protect drivers from warrantless searches, especially since recreational marijuana is now legal in Minnesota. You still can’t drive under the influence, but smoking and then riding as a passenger or simply having it on your persons is not punishable, so odor alone certainly shouldn’t be cause for a search in and of itself.
If you need assistance fighting a drug or traffic related charge in the greater Minneapolis area, reach out to Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
