Elizabeth Simpson, Strategic Director for Emancipate NC, recently authored an op-ed published in the News & Observer making the case against allowing police to use the odor of marijuana as justification for searches.
She writes:
“The N.C. Supreme Court should hold that the mere odor of cannabis is not stand-alone justification for a search or an arrest. These days, it is overwhelmingly likely that what an officer smells is not an illegal drug at all. It’s not ‘reasonable’ to assume that the cannabis odor means that illegal activity is occurring. Instead, it’s likely that the smell is a legal hemp product — a cash crop that is a boon for the North Carolina economy and one that is sold in stores in every single county.”
Elizabeth emphasizes that such a ruling would not prevent odor from being considered as one factor among others, but it would bar police from using smell alone as a pretext to search motorists and pedestrians.
She also points out a troubling reality: officers have admitted that they sometimes fabricate claims of smelling marijuana in order to justify searches. This practice disproportionately harms communities of color, who are searched, charged, and convicted at higher rates despite cannabis use being common across all races and classes.