On Tuesday, the North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s ruling to exclude evidence gathered during a traffic stop. Is it cool to use the smell of cannabis as probable cause to search a car? While hemp is legal in North Carolina, the Tar Heel state has not joined the legions of others in legalizing cannabis. During September of last year, the State of Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed that cannabis odor doesn’t constitute enough probable cause alone to search a vehicle. Springs pointed out that in North Carolina, hemp is legal and cannot be visually or olfactorily distinguished from its euphoria-inducing marijuana relative.
Is it cool to use the smell of cannabis as probable cause to search a car? While most readers likely answer with a resounding “no,” just such a question is currently being hashed out, pun intended, by courts in North Carolina, a state that historically leans conservative.
On Tuesday, the North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s ruling to exclude evidence gathered during a traffic stop....
Read the full article @ High Times