Law enforcement in Illinois cannot rely on the odor of burned cannabis to search a motor vehicle without a warrant, the state's supreme court held Thursday.

Thursday's decision corrected a split between the state's appellate courts. The Illinois Second District Appellate Court held in a 2023 decision in People v. Harris that the smell of cannabis, standing alone, could justify a warrantless search of an automobile. In contrast, the state's Third District Appellate Court held that the odor alone could not justify probable cause to search a vehicle in its 2022 decision in People v. Stribling.