I doubt they smelled pot, just an excuse.
Back in the 60s & 70s, police would say they could see the outline of a joint in someone’s pants pocket as an excuse to search the person, invariably one of those hippy types. Of course a lot of hippy types would be carrying a joint with them, from what I’ve been told.
Anyway, judges tended to accept the officer’s word as probable cause for the search.
I remember hearing in the 80’s-90’s that cocaine was detected on pretty much all paper money as people would roll it up to use as a straw.
I was in NYC with my family a couple of weeks ago and I swear you can’t walk around without smelling pot smoke at virtually all times. Everywhere we went. Cops saying you’re a drug dealer because they smell a legal substance that everyone seems to be smoking everywhere in big cities just doesn’t hold water.
It is a lame excuse.
Its admittedly known you can find traces of drugs on much of the paper money in circulation.
Drug possession laws enabled police to search anyone at will. Police just have to say they “smelled pot” and no way to prove otherwise. Even if they don’t find anything, they can still imprison you at will and steal all your property by planting a tiny fungible package.
WOD has been an absolute failure and all it has done is open a barn door for the state to abuse our most fundamental rights.
Thankfully such madness is becoming a thing of the past in many places...
The only have to SUSPECT the money is tied to illegal activity. And they “suspect” that every dollar that they find is tied to drugs. And there is literally nothing to deter them except a civil lawsuit that holds no one responsible because the person who seized it won’t have to pay it back.