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The smell of burnt marijuana no longer justifies a warrantless police search of a vehicle in Illinois.
The state’s Supreme Court made the ruling Thursday due to changes in Illinois’ marijuana laws.
The change stems from a 2020 traffic stop of Ryan Redmond on I-80 near the Quad Cities.
An officer searched the vehicle and found one gram of cannabis after smelling a strong odor of burnt pot coming from the car.
Redmond was charged with unlawful possession of cannabis even through state lawmakers had legalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled the search of the vehicle was unjustified.
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