Judges at odds over marijuana odor and search warrants - Arizona Daily Sun

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PHOENIX -- Just days after three judges one division of the Court of Appeals said the smell of marijuana is not enough for a search, a second panel in another division have reached a contrary conclusion.

The judges on Thursday upheld the actions by police officers who searched a vehicle they had stopped after detecting the smell of burnt marijuana. That search yielded what police said was a "marble size'' quantity of the unburnt drug.

An attorney for Ian H. Cheatham argued that once voters approved the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, the smell of burnt marijuana, absent more, is no longer evidence that a crime is being committed. And that, he argued, made the search illegal.

Judge Samuel Thumma, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, acknowledged that 2010 law specifically allows those with a doctor's recommendation and state-issued card to possess up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana.

But Thumma...

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