Can Police Search a Car for the Smell of Weed in Washington? Not Without a Warrant

Most of this series asks whether odor is probable cause. In Washington that’s the second question. The first is that probable cause, by itself, doesn’t get you into a car at all.

Can Police Search a Car for the Smell of Weed in Washington? Not Without a Warrant

Not without a warrant, consent or a real exigency. Under Wash. Const. art. I, § 7, “the existence of probable cause, standing alone, does not justify a warrantless search” (State v. Tibbles, 169 Wn.2d 364 (2010)), and the automobile exception “is not recognized under article I, section 7” (State v. Snapp, 174 Wn.2d 177 (2012)). Odor in a car also won’t justify arresting everyone in it (State v. Grande, 164 Wn.2d 135 (2008)).

Washington: odor and the car — No automobile exception. Even probable cause needs a warrant, consent or a real exigency. — Washington: odor and the car — the statute, the controlling cases, and what still gets you into the car. The full breakdown lives inside StreetSense, offline.

Tibbles and Snapp — no automobile exception

Tibbles (Washington Supreme Court, 5–4): a trooper smelled marijuana on a traffic stop and searched. The car’s mobility and “possible drug possession” were not an exigency, and “mere convenience is simply not enough.” Probable cause “is not a recognized exception to the warrant requirement, but rather the necessary basis for obtaining a warrant.”
Footnote 4: the State hadn’t argued search incident to arrest or a “plain smell” theory, and another exception might be available in similar circumstances.
Snapp (8–1): “although the automobile exception is recognized for purposes of the Fourth Amendment, it is not recognized under article I, section 7.”

The ways in that remain

A warrant. Probable cause is what the affidavit is for.
Consent, or a true, case-specific exigency — not the fact that cars move.
Search incident to arrest, only while the arrestee is unsecured and can reach the car (Snapp). Snapp rejected the federal “evidence of the crime of arrest” prong from Gant.

Grande — odor doesn't arrest the passengers

Grande (unanimous): “the smell of marijuana in the general area where an individual is located is insufficient, without more, to support probable cause for arrest.” Article I, § 7 “requires individualized probable cause for each occupant of the vehicle.”
It overruled State v. Hammond (1979) and rejected the federal “common enterprise” inference from Maryland v. Pringle. Where nothing else links a passenger to a crime, the arrest and any search that follows are invalid.

Odor after I-502

Adult possession has been legal since December 6, 2012. Possession within the limits “is not a violation of this section, this chapter, or any other provision of Washington state law” (RCW 69.50.4013(3)(a)).
We found no published Washington appellate decision deciding what odor alone proves since then. State v. Reis (2015) expressly declined to analyze I-502, and State v. Le, 564 P.3d 1019 (Div. II 2025), found probable cause “even absent the odor of marijuana.” The older cases that leaned on odor predate legalization.
Build the affidavit on more: amount, packaging or sale indicators, an under-21 occupant, impairment, an opened package in the cabin.

How much is legal, and in the car

Adults 21 and over: 1 ounce of useable cannabis, 16 ounces of solid infused product, 72 ounces of liquid infused product, 7 grams of concentrate (RCW 69.50.360(3), adopted by 69.50.4013(3)(a)).
Under 21 may not possess (RCW 69.50.4013(5)); 40 grams or less is a misdemeanor (69.50.4014).
RCW 46.61.745: a traffic infraction to keep cannabis in a vehicle on a highway unless it’s in the trunk, in an area not normally occupied (if there’s no trunk), or in an unopened, sealed package. The glove and utility compartments count as occupied. Consuming cannabis in a vehicle on the highway is also an infraction.
DUI per se: a THC concentration of 5.00 or higher in blood within two hours of driving (RCW 46.61.502(1)(b)). Cannabis odor on the breath is one statutory way to show the effects element of first-degree negligent driving, a misdemeanor (RCW 46.61.5249).

The federal floor — and why it doesn't decide your case

Under the Fourth Amendment the automobile exception needs probable cause and nothing more (Maryland v. Dyson, 527 U.S. 465 (1999)), and marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
Washington’s art. I, § 7 goes further than that floor: no automobile exception at all, and individualized probable cause for every occupant.
That is the floor. A state court applying its own statute or constitution can — and here does — suppress what a federal court would admit. Work to your state’s rule.

How it plays out on the street

Lane-violation stop, two in the car, strong marijuana odor. You can’t arrest both on the smell (Grande), and you can’t search the car on probable cause alone (Tibbles). If you believe there’s evidence of a crime inside, write the warrant and build it on more than the odor. An opened package on the seat is a 46.61.745 infraction — cite it. Consent is a lawful route; the car’s mobility and your convenience are not.

Frequently asked questions

Can police search your car for the smell of weed in Washington?

Not on probable cause alone. Washington’s constitution has no automobile exception (State v. Tibbles, 2010; State v. Snapp, 2012), so officers need a warrant, consent, a true exigency or a valid search incident to arrest. No published Washington appellate decision has decided what marijuana odor alone proves since adult possession became legal in 2012.

Can police arrest everyone in the car for the smell of weed in Washington?

No. In State v. Grande (2008) the Washington Supreme Court held that the smell of marijuana in the general area where a person is located is insufficient, without more, for probable cause to arrest, and that each occupant requires individualized probable cause.

Is it illegal to have open weed in your car in Washington?

Yes. Under RCW 46.61.745 it is a traffic infraction to keep cannabis in a vehicle on a highway unless it is in the trunk, in an area not normally occupied if there is no trunk, or in an unopened sealed package. The glove compartment counts as the occupied area.

Carry the rule, not the guesswork. StreetSense breaks down Washington law like this — the statute, the limit, and the charge that actually sticks — verified against the code and available fully offline on shift. Start the free trial.

StreetSense is an educational reference for law enforcement, not legal advice. State law changes, and your department policy may be stricter than the statute. Always follow your state’s current rule and your agency’s policy.

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