IN: Training of smell of MJ enough for PC

The distinctive smell of marijuana is enough for probable cause, and the officer’s training is enough to tell it. Bunnell v. State, 2021 Ind. LEXIS 545 (Sept. 2, 2021):

Weed, grass, herb, endo, chronic—despite its many nicknames, no other substance has the distinct, pungent, and pervasive odor of raw marijuana. And law enforcement officers are specifically taught to detect this odor as part of Indiana’s standard police academy training — training they frequently put into use in the field.

With those considerations in mind, we must answer a question of first impression: whether an officer who attests only that they possess the necessary training and experience to detect the smell of raw marijuana allows a warrant-issuing judicial officer to infer that the affiant is qualified to recognize this odor. Because trained and experienced law enforcement officers require no exceptional olfactory acuity to identify the distinctive scent of raw marijuana, an officer seeking a search warrant on this basis need not detail their qualifications—beyond their “training and experience”—to identify the drug’s smell. We therefore affirm the trial court’s denial of Bunnell’s motion to suppress.