You Smell Like Hemp. Is That Enough for a Search and Seizure?
The cannabis plant has always had a strong scent, and now, it carries even stronger legal consequences. But in today’s legal climate, especially in North Carolina, the odor of cannabis is no longer a simple trigger for a lawful search. The truth is more complicated and more frustrating than ever.
If you’ve been charged with a drug offense in Greensboro or were searched based solely on odor, your rights under the Fourth Amendment may have been violated. And what’s more, the courts can’t seem to agree on what should come next.
Hemp is Legal. THC is Not. Cops Can’t Tell the Difference, but You’ll Pay the Price.
The North Carolina Farm Bill of 2018 allowed farmers to grow industrial hemp. It opened doors for paper, rope, and textiles, and a flood of confusing legal overlap ensued. Hemp is legal. THC-heavy cannabis is not. But both look, and more importantly, smell the same. Especially when smoked.
That smell has been law enforcement’s go-to shortcut for nearly a century. Since the 1930s, the distinct aroma of cannabis has justified car searches, arrests, and felony drug charges during everyday traffic stops.
In the past, courts accepted this. Odor was enough. But since the law now allows people to possess hemp-based products: CBD, Delta-8, THC-A legally, what does that mean when your car “smells like weed”? Can that still justify an arrest?
State v. Springs: The Court Makes a High-Handed Decision
In January 2024, a case out of Mecklenburg County asked the North Carolina Court of Appeals to finally deal with this mess. In State v. Springs, a man was pulled over for a fake license plate. The officer thought he smelled marijuana. Mr. Springs explained that he hadn’t smoked and that he was driving a friend’s car. His license had expired, an infraction, yes, but not a felony.
Still, the officer searched the vehicle. Then he searched Mr. Springs’ personal bag. Inside were small amounts of a green leafy substance, a scale, and some baggies. Based on that, Springs was charged with drug trafficking.
His attorney fought the search. The trial court agreed. It ruled that the odor of hemp or marijuana alone, when hemp is legal and indistinguishable from marijuana, no longer justifies a full-blown search. The case should have ended there.
But it didn’t.
The State appealed. And the Court of Appeals reversed the decision, saying that a mix of factors: the smell, the expired license, the borrowed car, and Springs’ own speculation that his friend may have smoked earlier, created enough “criminality” to justify the search.
Let that sink in: a legal smell, an expired license, a borrowed car, and the possibility of someone else committing a crime were enough for the State to charge this man with a felony.
Your Fourth Amendment Rights Deserve Better
Under the Fourth Amendment, you are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures. That protection doesn’t disappear just because an officer claims your car “smelled like pot.” Especially when that odor could just as easily come from a perfectly legal product.
Unfortunately, North Carolina courts are still playing catch-up. They want to have it both ways: legalize hemp, but keep using its smell to justify criminal searches. The result? Confusion. Injustice. And arrests that may not hold up under real constitutional scrutiny.
We Hold Them Accountable for Weak Logic. So Should You.
At Dummit Fradin, we believe free societies aren’t built on gut feelings and flimsy assumptions. If the law allows legal hemp, the courts shouldn’t treat its presence or its smell as a crime.
Our Greensboro drug crime lawyers fight these battles every day. We stay up to date on every shift in case law and every misstep by prosecutors who rely on outdated logic to make charges stick. We’ve seen how these cases play out, and we know how to challenge unlawful searches based on odor alone.
Arrested After a Search? Let’s Talk
If you’ve been charged with possession, trafficking, or any drug crime in Guilford, Alamance, or Randolph Counties and your arrest stemmed from an odor-based search, now is the time to act. Your case could hinge on how well your lawyer understands the evolving case law and how aggressively they’re willing to defend your Fourth Amendment rights.
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