The Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the smell of raw cannabis is considered legal grounds for police to conduct a vehicle search, the Chicago Tribune reports.
The ruling in the case of Vincent Molina, who faces misdemeanor possession charges for the improper transportation of cannabis, resulted from a December 2020 traffic stop during which a state trooper smelled raw cannabis and conducted a vehicle search, finding several joints and a sealed box of cannabis. Initially, the trial court ruled that the vehicle search in the Molina case was unjustified in part because adult-use cannabis possession has been legalized in Illinois, but the appeals court later reversed the ruling — and this week, the state Supreme Court upheld the reversal.
The 4-2 ruling is something of a departure from a previous ruling by the Supreme Court in September which determined that the smell of burnt cannabis is not grounds to conduct a vehicle search. The court noted that while state law prohibits cannabis consumption inside a vehicle, the smell of burnt cannabis could linger on a person after they had smoked.
“In short, while cannabis is legal to possess generally, it is illegal to possess in a vehicle on an