Court: Burnt Marijuana Odor Not Enough To Suspect Criminal Activity

The Supreme Judicial Court cited a 2008 ballot question in which voters agreed to make possession of 1 ounce or less a civil, rather than a criminal, violation.

“We conclude that, to order a passenger in a stopped vehicle to exit based merely on suspicion of an offense, that offense must be criminal,” Chief Justice Roderick Ireland wrote for the court in the 5-1 ruling.

The court found that the new law “provides a clear directive to police departments handling violators to treat commission of this offense as noncriminal.”