Maryland’s full legislature has passed legislation that will prohibit police from using the smell of marijuana as reasonable suspicion or probable cause in order to detain an individual.
House Bill 1071 was filed by Delegate Charlotte Crutchfield along with 43 cosponsors. The proposal was passed by the House of Delegates 101 to 36, and was passed by the Senate unanimously, 27 to 0. This sends the measure to Governor Wes Moore, who is expected to sign it into law.
House Bill 1071 would prohibit “a law enforcement officer from initiating a stop or a search of a person, a motor vehicle, or a vessel based solely” on the smell of marijuana. The proposal would also reduce the fine associated with smoking marijuana in public (which remains a civil infraction even under the voter-approved legalization initiative) from $250 to $50 for a first offense, and from $500 to $150 for subsequent offenses.
The legislation is timely as an initiative legalizing the possession of up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana was passed by voters in November, with it going into full effect on July 1.
Specifically, House Bill 1071 states that:
A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER MAY NOT INITIATE A STOP OR A SEARCH OF A PERSON, A MOTOR VEHICLE, OR A VESSEL BASED SOLELY ON ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING:
(1) THE ODOR OF BURNT OR UNBURNT CANNABIS;
(2) THE POSSESSION OR SUSPICION OF POSSESSION OF CANNABIS THAT DOES NOT EXCEED THE PERSONAL USE AMOUNT, AS DEFINED UNDER § 5–601 OF THE CRIMINAL LAW ARTICLE; OR
(3) THE PRESENCE OF CASH OR CURRENCY IN PROXIMITY TO 28 CANNABIS WITHOUT OTHER INDICIA OF AN INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE.
“Marijuana odor stops and searches not only pose serious risk to people’s Fourth Amendment rights, they enable racial profiling and dangerous and unnecessary police interactions,” says Yanet Amanuel with the ACLU. “This is why it is critical that the legislature must step up and ensure that the law and police practices are consistent with the reason you all said you support legalization of marijuana and, most importantly, the law reflects the will of the people.”
Amanuel adds that “Marylanders should not fear police interactions because of a lingering odor of a now legal substance.”
Once signed into law, House Bill 1071 will take effect on July 1.
