A Missouri lawmaker on Wednesday pre-filed a bill to make it so police could no longer use the odor of marijuana alone as justification to conduct searches of a person’s home, vehicle or other private property. The move comes as efforts to more broadly legalize cannabis are heating up in the state—both via the ballot and in the legislature. Rep. Ian Mackey (D) is sponsoring the new legislation, which he said is meant to build upon the state’s 2018 vote to legalize medical cannabis. The one-page bill text simply states: “Notwithstanding any provision of law, the odor of marijuana alone shall not provide a law enforcement officer with probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of a motor vehicle, home, or other private property.” “Missourians overwhelmingly voted to legalize marijuana as medicine, so to allow officers to continue to search our citizens simply because they smell medicine is discriminatory and wrong,” Mackey told St. Louis Today. “It’s time for Missouri to follow the example of other states on this issue.” “It’s time to update our marijuana criminalization statutes to be more reflective of the 21st century,” he added.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 12/09/2021 09:31:00