sweetpea
05-26-2004, 11:14 PM
taken from an email received from NORML News of the day (http://www.norml.org)
"Smell" Of Pot Inadequate For Cops To Justify Probable Cause,
Study Says
Philadelphia, PA: Marijuana's odor is seldom discernible enough to
justify probable cause by law enforcement officers, according to empirical
data published in the journal Law and Human Behavior.
"Although law enforcement officials routinely rely solely on the sense
of smell to justify probable cause when entering vehicles and dwellings to
search for illicit drugs, the accuracy of their perception in this regard
has rarely been questioned and, to our knowledge, never tested," authors
at the Smell and Taste Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine wrote. Researchers evaluated data from two empirical studies
based upon actual legal cases in which police relied on the odor of
marijuana as probable cause for a search. In the first, they simulated a
situation in which, during a routine traffic stop, the odor of packaged
marijuana located in the trunk of an automobile was said to be detected
through the driver's window. In the second, researchers investigated a
report that marijuana’s odor was discernible from a considerable distance
from the chimney effluence of diesel exhaust emanating from an illicit
grow room.
Six of the nine participants in the first trial were unable to detect
the odor of marijuana. In the second trial, none of the participants
could reliably detect the marijuana odor embedded in the diesel fumes.
"Our findings suggest that the odor of marijuana was not reliably
discernible by persons with an excellent sense of smell in either case,"
authors concluded. They further noted that odors emanating from immature
female plants are much less intense on average than those of mature
females, and that no marijuana-like odor could be discerned in most
immature plants.
"The present findings throw into question, in two specific instances,
the validity of observations made by law enforcement officers using the
sense of smell to discern the presence of marijuana," authors wrote.
"Although these instances reflect a very small set of studies with very
specific constraints, they do suggest that a blanket acceptance of
testimony based upon reported detection of odors for probable cause is
questionable and that empirical data to support or refute such testimony
in specific cases is sorely needed."
For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Executive
Director, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Marijuana Odor
Perception: Studies Modeled From Probable Cause Cases," appears is the
April issue of Law and Human Behaviors. It is available online at:
http://www.kluweronline.com/article.asp?PIPS=484203
"Smell" Of Pot Inadequate For Cops To Justify Probable Cause,
Study Says
Philadelphia, PA: Marijuana's odor is seldom discernible enough to
justify probable cause by law enforcement officers, according to empirical
data published in the journal Law and Human Behavior.
"Although law enforcement officials routinely rely solely on the sense
of smell to justify probable cause when entering vehicles and dwellings to
search for illicit drugs, the accuracy of their perception in this regard
has rarely been questioned and, to our knowledge, never tested," authors
at the Smell and Taste Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine wrote. Researchers evaluated data from two empirical studies
based upon actual legal cases in which police relied on the odor of
marijuana as probable cause for a search. In the first, they simulated a
situation in which, during a routine traffic stop, the odor of packaged
marijuana located in the trunk of an automobile was said to be detected
through the driver's window. In the second, researchers investigated a
report that marijuana’s odor was discernible from a considerable distance
from the chimney effluence of diesel exhaust emanating from an illicit
grow room.
Six of the nine participants in the first trial were unable to detect
the odor of marijuana. In the second trial, none of the participants
could reliably detect the marijuana odor embedded in the diesel fumes.
"Our findings suggest that the odor of marijuana was not reliably
discernible by persons with an excellent sense of smell in either case,"
authors concluded. They further noted that odors emanating from immature
female plants are much less intense on average than those of mature
females, and that no marijuana-like odor could be discerned in most
immature plants.
"The present findings throw into question, in two specific instances,
the validity of observations made by law enforcement officers using the
sense of smell to discern the presence of marijuana," authors wrote.
"Although these instances reflect a very small set of studies with very
specific constraints, they do suggest that a blanket acceptance of
testimony based upon reported detection of odors for probable cause is
questionable and that empirical data to support or refute such testimony
in specific cases is sorely needed."
For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Executive
Director, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Marijuana Odor
Perception: Studies Modeled From Probable Cause Cases," appears is the
April issue of Law and Human Behaviors. It is available online at:
http://www.kluweronline.com/article.asp?PIPS=484203