State v. Green
Tennessee Supreme Court considered how the legalization of hemp affects a probable cause analysis where law enforcement relied, in part, on a positive alert from a drug-detecting canine that was not capable of differentiating between the smell of legal hemp and illegal marijuana. The court held that even though hemp’s legalization makes the probative value of the dog sniff for identifying illegal drugs more ambiguous, that sniff may still contribute to a probable cause finding as a factor in the totality of the circumstances analysis.
Related Commentary
State Legalization of Marijuana Is Changing Search and Seizure Jurisprudence
The smell of marijuana, on its own, is no longer considered to be evidence of criminal activity in many jurisdictions.