Bay State police can no longer conduct a warrantless search of car based on the smell of unburned marijuana, the state’s highest court ruled today in two unanimous decisions.

The Supreme Judicial Court held that police cannot gain probable cause to search vehicle — even if they smell “strong” or “very strong” odor of unburned weed — because a cop’s sense of smell is “subjective” and not able to determine if there is an illegal amount of the drug.

“[W]e are not confident, at least on this record, that a human nose can discern reliably the presence of a criminal amount of marijuana, as distinct from an amount subject only to a civil fine,” Justice Barbara A. Lenk wrote in the 14-page decision.

The ruling expands the court’s 2011 Commonwealth v. Cruz decision, which held that the smell of burned marijuana does not give police probable cause to search a car. Today’s ruling and the 2011 case were both possible due to the 2008 ballot initiative that decriminalized possession of one ounce of less of marijuana.

In a separate decision, the court today held that the smell of unburned marijuana cannot lead to probable cause for a search, even if police believe there is evidence of a federal crime.

“Where the 2008 initiative decriminalized possession of one ounce or less of marijuana under State law, and accordingly removed police authority to arrest individuals for civil violations … it also must be read as curtailing police authority to enforce the Federal prohibition of possession of small amounts of marijuana,” Lenk wrote.

DEVELOPING…