RELIABILITY OF DISTINGUSIHING ODOR OF MARIJUANA & HEMP, DELTA-8 ET. AL.

IPDC WEBINAR

CHALLENGING THE RELIABILITY TO DISTINGUISH THE ODOR OF MARIJUANA FROM HEMP, DELTA-8, AND CBD FLOWERS

WEDNESDAY JUNE 22, 2022 12.00-1.00 EST VIA ZOOM

The alleged smell of marijuana is the easiest way for police to search you or your car. They say they perceive an odor, that cannot be objectively tested for or preserved, and then your Fourth Amendment rights disappear. Let’s change that. With the legalization of marijuana in Indiana (as long as the THC content is <0.03%), there has been a proliferation of commercially available marijuana products that can be lawfully purchased and possessed. In light of this change, and the scientific impossibility that officers can perceive the difference between legal marijuana and contraband, the alleged smell of marijuana is no longer indicative of illegal activity. We’ll talk about how to challenge PC searches based on the alleged smell of a legal substance.

Dr. Alex Straiker

Dr. Alex Straiker is a senior scientist at the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at IU Bloomington. The focus of his work is the neuropharmacology and physiology of drugs of abuse, particularly cannabinoids, and more recently, opiates. Cannabinoids and opiates are important drugs of abuse and have a role in human history dating back thousands of years. Only recently have we begun to learn the intimate details of how these drugs actually work in the body. By all accounts, cannabinoids and opiates are part of a complex web of receptors, transporters, enzymes, and signaling molecules, each subject to modulation. The precise workings of endocannabinoid and opiate signaling, and even the identity of the endogenous ligand at a given synapse, generally remain an open question. Dr. Straiker’s primary approach is to use neurophysiology in combination with molecular biology and anatomy to investigate specific mechanisms of signaling and their roles in health and disease. Much of his recent work has focused on cannabinoid function in the eye, including projects relating to glaucoma, corneal healing, and tearing.

Education: Ph.D., U.C. San Diego, 2001, B.S., University of Washington, 1997

B.A., University of Washington, 1988

Kyle Duggar, Public Defender Monroe County, Indiana

Kyle Dugger is a deputy public defender in the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office. He attended Maurer School of Law in Bloomington and was admitted to the Indiana Bar in 2015. He lives in Bloomington with his wife and four parrots, although they are expecting their first child later this year. Kyle enjoys blacksmithing, target shooting, and sticking it to the State.