Law enforcement officers in Illinois cannot rely on the smell of burnt cannabis alone to justify searching a vehicle without a warrant, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

The smell of burnt marijuana is no longer grounds to search a vehicle, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The ruling stems from a traffic stop in 2020 during which officers pulled over Ryan Redmond for traveling 73 mph in a 70 mph zone on U.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled 6-0 that without other suspicious circumstances, such as a driver failing to stop for some time, or a bud in plain view, the search was unjustified.

In a 6-0 ruling, the court found that cannabis laws in Illinois had evolved to the point that just catching a whiff of burnt weed is no longer enough probable cause for police to search a vehicle.