“To constitute a violation…marijuana in a vehicle must be of a usable quantity, in imminently usable condition, and readily accessible to an occupant.”
By Nigel Duara, CalMatters
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.
When it comes to impaired driving and the state’s open container law, a rolled and ready joint is more like a can of beer in giving police cause to search a car than a few crumbs of marijuana, according to the California Supreme Court.
The court’s reasoning: You can smoke a joint and drink a beer, but loose marijuana isn’t readily consumable.
In a ruling handed down on Thursday, the high court ruled that police must find marijuana in a condition that’s ready to be smoked if they are going to charge a driver with an open container violation.
“We hold that at a minimum, to constitute a violation of [the open container law], marijuana in a vehicle must be of a usable quantity, in imminently usable condition, and readily accessible to an occupant,” wrote Associate Justice Goodwin Liu in a unanimous opinion.
Loose marijuana found on a car’s floorboards is like spilled beer, the court ruled.
“In assessing whether the marijuana
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