Chambana Sun

Illinois state Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) is voicing his opposition to a newly passed bill by Democratic state senators that would prevent police officers from searching a vehicle based solely on the smell of marijuana.

“How much more difficult can we make it on our law enforcement community,” Caulkins told the Chambana Sun recently. “How much more unsafe for people that just want to live their lives, go to work and raise a family in Illinois. The Democrats have come together to make Illinois a lawless state. When we impede our law enforcement like this how are they to do the job?”

Introduced in January, Senate Bill 125 is sponsored by Illinois state Sen. Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet), a recent Marijuana Moment report said. Lawmakers in the state Senate voted 33–20 to pass the legislation, with supporters arguing that the bill would protect residents' rights against unreasonable searches.

“People—especially people of color—are unnecessarily pulled over far too often,” Ventura said in a statement, quoted by Marijuana Moment. “The odor of cannabis alone shouldn’t be one of those reasons. Cannabis is legal in Illinois and it’s a pungent scent that can stick to clothes for extended periods of time.”

Senate Democrats affirmed the push for the bill stemmed from a Will County court case in which a defendant was pulled over and arrested after the officer detected “a strong odor of burnt cannabis emanating from the vehicle,” which the defendant later clamed was due to someone having smoked cannabis in the car “a long time ago.”

The bill would not alter the state’s laws concerning impaired driving, meaning the act of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would remain a criminal offense, the report said. The bill states that “if a motor vehicle is driven or occupied by an individual 21 years of age or over, the odor of burnt or raw cannabis in a motor vehicle by itself shall not constitute probable cause for the search of the motor vehicle, vehicle operator, or passengers in the vehicle.”

The bill is now set to be reviewed for further consideration by the Illinois House of Representatives.