Update: Arizona Supreme Court rules marijuana smell valid for search warrants
PHOENIX The mere smell of marijuana can still be the basis for police to obtain a warrant to conduct a search, Arizonas top court said Monday in a ruling that generally maintains a decades-old legal doctrine in the wake of the states legalization of medical marijuana.
However, the state Supreme Courts ruling also said the smell-based legal foundation for a search can be dispelled if a person has a valid medical marijuana card or authorities have other indications the suspected marijuana use or possession is authorized by the 2010 medical marijuana law.
Arizona adopted the so-called plain smell doctrine in a 1975 ruling.
The unanimous ruling Monday upheld a trial judges decision in a Tucson case to allow evidence from a search conducted after police smelled marijuana and obtained a warrant. Officers who had noted an overpowering odor found a growing operation with hundreds of plants, the ruling said.
Arizona voters approval of the 2010 medical marijuana law didnt generally decriminalize marijuana use or possession and makes marijuana legal in only limited circumstances, Chief Justice Scott Bales wrote.
Because of that, the odor of marijuana in most circumstances will warrant a reasonable person believing there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime is present, Bales wrote
Two Arizona Court of Appeals panels issued contradictory rulings on the marijuana smell issue in the Tucson case and a case in Maricopa County.
The Arizona ruling ...
