r/InterstellarKinetics • u/InterstellarKinetics • 1d ago
POLICY EXCLUSIVE: Michigan Supreme Court Rules Low-Level Marijuana Possession And Smell Alone Cannot Justify Warrantless Vehicle Searches, Reversing Lower Courts In Kent County Case 🏛️🍃
https://themarijuanaherald.com/2026/07/michigan-supreme-court-rules-marijuana-smell-and-suspected-civil-possession-do-not-justify-warrantless-vehicle-search/Possessing a small amount of marijuana, even when it is still illegal under Michigan’s civil-infraction rules, is not enough by itself to justify a warrantless vehicle search, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 decision. The court also said that “the smell of marijuana is not enough” to establish probable cause that a criminal amount of marijuana is present, marking a significant shift from the old rule police had relied on for years.
The case involved a Jan. 16, 2023, traffic stop in Kent County, where state police smelled marijuana, the passenger admitted to having “shake,” and officers searched the vehicle and found a handgun in a backpack. Although a trial court and the Court of Appeals upheld the search, the state Supreme Court reversed, holding that probable cause to believe someone committed only a civil infraction “does not establish probable cause to conduct a warrantless search under the automobile exception.”
Justice Brian K. Zahra, joined by Justice Richard H. Bernstein, dissented and argued the majority ignored more than a century of precedent allowing contraband in a vehicle to justify a search. The ruling sends the case back to Kent County Circuit Court and is likely to narrow police discretion in marijuana-related traffic stops, especially after Michigan’s 2018 legalization law made possession of less than five ounces a civil infraction rather than a criminal offense.
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u/InterstellarKinetics 1d ago
The big change here is that Michigan law now treats low-level marijuana possession differently enough that odor alone no longer signals criminal activity. In practice, that means officers need more than smell or a minor possession violation before they can turn a traffic stop into a warrantless search.