Sangamon Sun

Springfield-based criminal attorney W. Scott Hanken noted the passage of a bill that changes the precedent on searching vehicles based on the smell of marijuana. 

“Just the smell of marijuana would not give police officers probable cause to search a vehicle under a bill passed by the Illinois Senate Thursday,” Hanken said in a Facebook post. “The bill also lifts a requirement that marijuana has to be transported in an odor-proof container. It still needs to be passed by the House.” 

Hanken noted that “Senate Bill 125 will prohibit the odor of burnt or raw cannabis from being a legal justification for probable cause or reasonable suspicion when present in a vehicle.” 

The bill’s synopsis provides details on what it would do. 

“Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that the odor of burnt or raw cannabis in a motor vehicle by itself shall not constitute probable cause for the search of a motor vehicle or person,” the synopsis reads.

Hansen additionally mentioned in his post what the state law currently allows. Under state law, citizens over the age of 21 may possess up to 30 grams or 5 mature plants without penalty. Illinois non-residents may possess up to 15 grams of marijuana, he said. 

The law also allows residents "No more than 500 milligrams of THC contained in a cannabis-infused product, and Registered patients in the medical cannabis pilot program may possess more than 30 grams of cannabis if it is grown and secured in their residence under certain conditions." 

In 2021 a precedent was set by by Whiteside County Judge Daniel P. Dalton who ruled that the smell of marijuana was no longer probable cause to search vehicles. Jim Kaitschuk, the executive director for Illinois Sheriffs' Association, spoke out against the ruling at the time. “We don’t know how much is in a vehicle," Kaitschuk said, according to Fox Illinois. "I mean it can smell pretty strong regardless of the amount. I find it problematic. I think roads will become less safe because of actions like this."