Scent of marijuana not grounds for search says B.C. court

Scent of marijuana not grounds for search says B.C. court

Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, August 05, 2008

DELTA, B.C. - A provincial court judge has thrown out charges against a man stopped by police in B.C. last year and found to have four garbage bags in the back seat full of marijuana plants.

Judge Peder Gulbransen found police seriously violated the man's constitutional rights because there were insufficient grounds to search the man's car, even though police could smell recently-burned marijuana coming from the vehicle.

The judge ruled that the smell was evidence of a past offence of possessing marijuana, allowing the officer to check if the driver was impaired by use of the drug, but did not give sufficient grounds to search the car without a warrant since no marijuana was visible.

On June 20, 2007, Delta police stopped a vehicle driven by David Razah Hood as officers prepared to execute a search warrant on a house they believed was used for growing marijuana.

The officer who stopped the vehicle detected a smell of burned marijuana, and Hood was arrested for possession of marijuana.

Another officer searched the car, and found four garbage bags on the rear seats all containing a large plastic container filled with marijuana clones. Hood was subsequently charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

At trial, the accused argued that the initial vehicle stop and subsequent search and arrest were unlawful because the officer stopped the vehicle on a hunch. The Crown replied that the officer had reasonable grounds to suspect that Hood was involved in the growing or trafficking of marijuana, and that police had the power to briefly detain the accused for an "investigative detention."

The judge said there have been many cases where the courts have upheld the validity of arrests - and subsequent searches - based on an officer detecting an odour of burned marijuana.

"In most of these cases, however, there were additional circumstances which supported the officer's belief that the person arrested was in possession of marijuana," the judge pointed out. "Where an arrest has been made solely on the basis of a police officer detecting an odour of burned marijuana, the courts have generally ruled that this fact alone does not establish sufficient grounds for an arrest."

Scent of marijuana not grounds for search: B.C. court

Yay! Go Canada eh'!

Isn't there some incense that's supposed to smell a bit like burning weed?
I know of a few natural herbs that smell a bit like cannabis too when burned.

There's even real colognes and perfumes that are made to smell like cannabis.

makes total sense to rule that just the smell is not grounds for arrest or searches.

unfortunately, 'odor' HAS been reasonable cause for searches in America, so far ... :smokin:

That's cool. And you never know, what if the cop is just saying he smells marijuana so he can search your car when realy the scent isn't eve there? You can argue but you know how that ends up.

I remember this story, the guy can't be in possesion of burnt cannabis because it's been burnt and therefore dissapated, the odour of fresh and burnt cannabis is different and therefore significant. Good for him, i'm glad he got off. I think i've heard barry cooper say it's not illegal to smell like marijuana, only to possess it.

Got to love Canadian Judges when it comes to MJ