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    Default Re: Improper Detention and Search After a Traffic Stop

    You have to be careful these days, if you're smoking marijuana then driving a car, or smoking marijuana when parked. The laws on marijuana use are anything but uniform across the nation except in this regard: You can't lawfully drive a vehicle if your ability to do so is impaired by the use of marijuana. You also can't assume that your legal right to possess a certain amount of marijuana in your home state is going to translate into your ability to carry that same marijuana once you cross a state line.

    States are floundering about how to approach driving while intoxicated by marijuana, and some prosecutors are pushing the theory that if your driving appears to be impaired and you have any evidence of marijuana use in your system, you can be prosecuted for driving while impaired by the use of drugs. That approach may be wackier than wacky tobacky itself, given that you can test positive for marijuana use days or weeks after you're sober, but it's presently a risk that marijuana (and other drug) users must take into consideration.

    As the linked article indicates, Pennsylvania recognizes the smell of marijuana in a vehicle as a basis for investigation of the vehicle and its operator for impaired driving. Had you been pulled over for erratic driving behavior instead of a window tint, or had the officer found that you showed signs of intoxication, sober or not, you might presently be facing an impaired driving charge.

    I might be able to find a better case discussing searches based on plain smell in Pennsylvania, but I decided to share this one because of the name: Commonwealth v. Stoner, 344 A.2d 633, 635 (Pa. Super. 1975) (holding that the smell of marijuana provides probable cause to search).

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