(The Center Square) – The smell of raw cannabis may soon no longer be grounds for a vehicle search in Illinois with legislation advancing at the statehouse.
Senate Bill 42 passed the Senate last month. In a House committee hearing Friday, state Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, said that separate cases recently decided by the Illinois Supreme Court made the smell of burnt cannabis not grounds for a search, but the smell of raw cannabis is.
“The Supreme Court clearly is, I think to some extent, asking us to do something because they interpret it, burn versus raw, coming up with two different opinions and then saying that we probably have to amend the vehicle code,” Tarver said.
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, said policymakers should first get a handle on the lack of roadside testing of drivers for cannabis intoxication before taking a tool away from law enforcement.
“My preference would be to dissolve those intoxicated motorist issues before we start making changes to the cannabis statute,” Windhorst said.
Tarver said he is looking to do something that makes sense.
“Not something that ties the hands of law enforcement,” he said.
Other questions were raised about what the change would mean for law enforcement pulling over a suspected trafficker smelling raw cannabis.
“So I hear you about the traffickers, I don’t want the traffickers either,” Tarver said. “But I also want to be able to drive down the street and have the same respect and dignity and treatment overall as everybody else, and that’s what’s not happening.”
The measure advanced out of committee Friday. The House returns Tuesday. Session is scheduled to end May 31.
