When Maryland officially legalized adult-use cannabis on July 1, 2023, the shift came with another law, HB 1071, deeming that law enforcement officers would no longer be allowed to use cannabis odor as probable cause to search a vehicle. Though, according to a new report, it looks as though Republican lawmakers in the state are already looking to reverse the law.
The Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Republican Caucus unveiled the move, along with four other legislative proposals, earlier this week as part of its public safety agenda for the upcoming legislative session, according to Marijuana Moment.
The lawmakers behind the proposal reportedly said that the updated legislation barring law enforcement from using cannabis odor alone as probable cause to search a vehicle puts motorists at risk and took away one of the important tools law enforcement uses to seize people’s firearms.
During a Tuesday press conference, House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy (R) said that “there is no doubt about” people using cannabis while rising in or operating a vehicle makes Maryland roads less safe.
“The Drug Free Roadways Act of 2024 will remove the prohibition from stopping and searching vehicles due to the odor of cannabis,” Pippy said.
The legislature passed HB 1071 in April 2023. According to the bill, law enforcement “may not initiate a stop or a search of a person, a motor vehicle, or a vessel” due to the smell of burnt or unburnt cannabis, the possession of a personal-use amount of cannabis or the presence of money near cannabis without additional evidence showing the intent to distribute.
Rather than signing the measure, Gov. Wes Moore (D) allowed it to become law without his signature.
In his comments, also included in a GOP press release, Pippy underscored that driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is illegal.
“When the smell of cannabis smoke is billowing out of a moving vehicle, it is very likely that the driver is under the influence. Prohibiting law enforcement from stopping said vehicle is like prohibiting an officer from stopping someone who’s chugging a beer while driving,” Pippy said. HB 1071 does not legalize driving under the influence of cannabis — the law only prohibits searches solely based on the smell of cannabis.
The press release also cites a single Canadian study showing an increase in cannabis-related traffic accidents that required an emergency room visit between 2010 and 2021. It conveniently fails to mention the research with contrasting results, including another from Canada, which failed to find any spike in stoned driving after legalization, or a study from earlier this year finding that traffic fatalities dropped in states with legal weed.
The press release also echoes concerns of law enforcement officers at the time of HB 1071’s initial passing, namely that they rely on cannabis odor as justification for vehicle searches to seize other items, like firearms.
“In Montgomery County alone, 80 percent of the guns seized in 2022 came from searching vehicles due to the odor of cannabis,” the press release says. “Now as crime rages throughout our state, law enforcement has lost a significant way to confiscate illegal firearms.”
Supporters of the current law say that police abuse the ability to search vehicles based on cannabis smell, using the privilege to justify otherwise warrantless searches — especially for Black people and people of color in Maryland.
In May 2023, Baltimore civil rights attorney Cary Hansel, talked about her experience on X (formerly Twitter) representing victims of civil rights abuses “that began with police allegedly smelling marijuana that they miraculously never found after an exhaustive search.”
The Caucus didn’t explicitly state specifics of the proposal, so it’s unclear as to how much of the initial law Republican lawmakers are aiming to undo. The bill also has yet to be formally filed in the legislature, according to the General Assembly’s website.
