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SouthernSmoker

This Question is for Niteshift. Can you be arrested for smell. Say you had just got done smoking a joint and you ranked of pot. Then you went walkin down main street, but you didnt have any on you or any types of pipes or etc. Then a cop walks by and stops you becasue he smells the pot, can you still be arrested even after they shearch you and find notta. I am wondering just in case cuz I do alot of walkin around the police station and I dont wanna be caught smellin rank and sent to jail over it. Thanks for the help before hand.

 

JohnnyChronic

I believe one of the LEOs already answered this in another thread. And I believe their answer was something like "No. It is not illegal to smell like marijuana."

Niteshift

The smell can be PC for a search, but you can't be arrested for it.

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lxl Ash lxl

which brings up another question.. can you be questioned and searched if a cop thinks you're high but doesnt smell anything? like he looks at your eyes and you look like you have pinkeye in both eyes with 1/8inch layer of glass on your eyeballs, but cant smell a thing.. i'd be paranoid, but i dont think he can do anything, can he? is that enough to be probable cause?

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Niteshift

If he can show training and experience giving him sufficient reason, it would probably fly.

 

magicmoe

The answer is NO for both questions.
You have certain rights a human being (at least in the western world).
One is they cant search or arrest you without a good reason. They need to proove you are high or your smell comes from marijuana which you have in your pocket.

They cant search.
And if a cop ask if he can search you: Just say NO!

Dyekocker

The cops will make up ANYTHING for PC. You can't stop them.

Niteshift

"One is they cant search or arrest you without a good reason. They need to proove you are high or your smell comes from marijuana which you have in your pocket."

The courts disagree. The smell of mj is recognizable.


Dyekocker:

"The cops will make up ANYTHING for PC. "

That's a gross stereotype.

Capt_Sternn

If nothing else, a cop in Texas can arrest you for public intoxication. This requires no proof and allows for no trial, as it is entirely left to the officer's opinion. BTW, you can be arrested and fined for this even if you can prove to the contrary. Reeking of weed would easily get you a night in jail and a $100 fine, just as reeking of alcohol will. Best bet is to practice your civil disobedience in the privacy of your own home, and tumble your shirt in the dryer for a few minutes before going out (not that I would know anything about that, mind you).

Reasonable suspicion is supposed to lead to a search warrent, but often doesn't. If you are visibly intoxicated on whatever, it gives the officer reasonable cause, according to modern court rulings, and he will get away with a warrantless search.

It is in everyone's best interest if you deny consent to be searched. This is our right, and freedom requires us to be ever vigilant and to stand up for our rights. If the cop insists on searching anyway, it is wise not to resist, but to file a complaint. Resisting a cop can be deadly, innocent or guity doesn't matter. The death of innocents in considered to be collateral damage, much like McVeigh's killing of children.

Niteshift

"Reasonable suspicion is supposed to lead to a search warrent, but often doesn't. "

Search warrants must be based on probable cause, not reasonable suspiscion.

"
It is in everyone's best interest if you deny consent to be searched. This is our right, and freedom requires us to be ever vigilant and to stand up for our rights. If the cop insists on searching anyway, it is wise not to resist, but to file a complaint. "

While your advice to not physically resist is good, you're missing a point.

If you can be arrested for PI, as in Texas, there is an exception to the warrant requirement called "search incident to arrest". Every court upholds this. It is the officers absolutle right to search you after arresting you. Since you are now in his care, custody and control, he has the right to know what items you have on you, whether it is a gun or a bag of weed.

This long standing principal, besides being common sense, is one that no court to my knowledge has ever ruled against.