Florida Court Says Cannabis Odor Not Grounds for Vehicle Searches

An appeals court in Florida ruled on Wednesday that the smell of cannabis is no longer grounds for law enforcement officers to search someone’s vehicle, the News Service of Florida reports.

With nine other judges in agreement, the main opinion of the 2nd District Court of Appeal, written by Judge Nelly Khouzam, argues that given the current availability of medical cannabis and hemp THC products in the state, the “mere odor [of cannabis] can no longer establish that it is ‘immediately apparent’ that the substance is contraband.”

“Accordingly, the plain smell doctrine can no longer establish probable cause based solely on the odor of cannabis. Rather, we now align the Fourth Amendment analysis for cannabis with the test that applies to other suspected contraband, such that its odor is a valid factor to be considered along with all others under the totality of the circumstances.” — Excerpt from the opinion

In addition to the nine in agreement, three other judges concurred but submitted separate opinions, and two judges dissented from the ruling. Dissenting Judge Craig Villanti wrote that the state’s hemp and cannabis policies “did not wholesale decriminalize the possession of marijuana,” and highlighted concerns about impaired driving.

The ruling reverses a 2021 decision by the court that said police were still allowed to search vehicles based on cannabis odor, according to the report.

In January, another Florida appeals court overturned vehicle searches based on an alert from a police K9 trained to detect cannabis.