ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A bill that would make it illegal for officers to stop, search or arrest a person solely based on the scent of marijuana is moving through the Georgia House of Representatives.
“Our concern is to make sure we protect all people without being subjective to the smell,” said Yolanda Bennett, of the Georgia Medical Cannabis Society and a medical marijuana patient.
Bennett said, “We are already sick and we’re tired. Just the inconvenience of having a police officer to go through our things. That’s the thing you have to put in patients point of view.”
Just smelling marijuana might not be enough for police to stop, search or arrest people under House Bill 496. Marijuana advocates are hoping to see it through, but a vote by the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee has been delayed.
“I do think that folks of Georgia deserve not to have be pulled over for the smell of marijuana,” said Omari Anderson, founder and CEO of The Best Dirty Lemonade.
Anderson brings up concerns about Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure.
“If we’re going to violate that, it has to be a higher standard. And so smell is objective,” Anderson said.
The bill, if enacted, could have stopped police from pulling over former DeKalb County police officer Corey Lowe over the smell of her daughter’s hemp seizure medicine and Lowe’s CBD cigarettes.
Lowe said she had shown officers her low-THC card and a receipt from a dispensary.
“We are a patient and trying to do everything legally but we had to spend $25,000 fighting the case,” Lowe said.
“The smell alone is not an indication that there is any illegal activity happening,” said Rep. Jasmine Clark, sponsor of House Bill 496.
Clark said the bill does not limit police practices and that legal hemp and marijuana smell the same.
“You cannot distinguish between the two. We want to make sure that police officers are using something that is measurable, objective, verifiable, and not something that could get tied up in court,” said Clark.
Randy McGinley, district attorney for the Alcovy District, said the bill limits police work by not allowing officers to rely on scent to see if other crimes are being committed.
“We are saying law enforcement is saying they smell it we are just not going to trust what they are saying in any situation,” McGinley said.
“Some of the changes in the law with marijuana and hemp and everything, over the last six years, has made law enforcement and prosecutors job very hard,” McGinley said. “Overly complicating it more is maybe not the way to go, in my opinion.”
“They are making it impossible to make a case for marijuana,” Rep. Bill Fincher added.
McGinley argued that courts should decide reasonable cause and reasonable suspicion.
“For a policy perspective I find it strange, that legislators weighing into what is and what is not reasonable suspicion or probable cause,” McGinley said.
Rep. Esther Panitch responded, “this isn’t a judge making this determination, this is an officer on the side of the road in the moment making that determination.” Panitch then said, in counterargument to courts deciding reasonable suspicion and probable cause, “that’s what we do is we make the law.”
Some are arguing the bill creates safety concerns and confusion.
“I think it’s dangerous policy because I think we need to err on the side of giving them (police) more tools rather than less tools,” said Rep. Clint Crowe.
“I think the goal of this bill is to reduce ambiguity like that’s exactly what we’re trying to do,” said Clark.
The committee is expected to vote on the bill Monday.
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