South Cook News

Republicans are raising questions about a measure that would bar the smell of marijuana from being used as probable cause to search a vehicle or its passengers. Democratic senators in Springfield recently passed the legislation and now it is with the House.

“I thought there is data that Illinois still finds there are a lot of illegal marijuana sales happening,” Republican Orland Park Village Village Trustee Jim Dodge told the South Cook News. “You have to ask yourself if legal marijuana has sales gotten rid of the challenge of illegal sales. If not, why hamstring officers from doing their jobs?”

Senators voted 33-20 to pass Senate Bill 125, sponsored by state Sen. Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet). As it awaits action by the House of Representatives, supporters have contended that such a bill would protect residents from unreasonable searches, a Schedule 6 Foundation article says. 

“Yes, but if there are still a lot of illegal sales happening in the state how does a cop know the difference?” Dodge said in response to that assertion. “The challenge for lawmakers is to think of another way to keep our streets safe." 

Senate Democrats have said the bill arose after a Will County court case where a defendant was pulled over and arrested after the officer detected “a strong odor of burnt cannabis emanating from the vehicle.” The defendant later claimed that the smell was residual and came from someone having smoked cannabis in the car “a long time ago,” the Schedule 6 report said.

The bill, the report said, would not affect the state’s laws around impaired driving, meaning the act of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would remain a criminal offense. The bill includes a stipulation that “if a motor vehicle is driven or occupied by an individual 21 years of age or over, the odor of burnt or raw cannabis in a motor vehicle by itself shall not constitute probable cause for the search of the motor vehicle, vehicle operator, or passengers in the vehicle.”

Regardless, such a measure will make it harder for officers to do their jobs, Dodge said. “It definitely will,” he said. “How does that officer know if this sale was legal versus an illegal one?”