question about my rights

Yes, smelling weed gives an officer probable cause to search your vehicle. As does having any illegal substances/items in plain view.

If he smells weed, he likely isn't going to ask you if he can search.

Either way though, you can't get arrested just for saying "I don't consent to a search." so he wouldn't arrest you for saying no and then search the car. If he has probable cause, he'll search, and if he finds contraband, he'll take the appropriate measures.


Always keep in mind that cops can bluff.

I've heard the "I smell weed" line before, and not consented to a search. The cop then jumped right into the "Well then I'll call in a K-9" speech, before eventually letting us go without a search or K-9.
If he had actually smelled weed he would have had probable cause.

The K-9 unit line is a toss up. Sometimes they're too lazy to actually go through that hassle and are just trying to call your bluff. Sometimes they're not.
If they actually do call a K-9 there's always the possibility a unit will not be near enough to respond. They're only allowed to detain you for a "reasonable" amount of time. Reasonable being something decided by the courts. I read one such court case where a 45 minute wait was deemed too long, but you never know.

OH! And don't forget the line "Am I being detained or am I free to leave?"
That's a good one to know.

 

...do you live in the US?

Because when it comes to vehicle searches, the smell of marijuana is probable cause here.

Yup.

 

Actually, I did read that.

The very first sentence says:

Exact opposite of what you told the OP. He asked, if an officer smells weed (or says he does), can he search. The answer is yes.

I'll also cite;

and

Everyone on the same page now?

 

In all fairness, if he can't smell it and says he can, there's every possibility he's still going to search. Your only hope then is a nice fun court battle to try and discredit the officers sense of smell.

Besides, you gotta admit, the smell of marijuana doesn't quite stand out as much anymore when you're a constant smoker.

 

I believe (having trouble finding info on this one) that if they have you exit the vehicle for any reason they're allowed to conduct a pat-down search to make sure you don't have any weapons.

Not positive on that, but it's what I've seen in my experience.

Like in the scenario I talked about in my first post in this thread, where the cop said he smelled weed but didn't end up searching, the driver was asked to exit the vehicle and patted down while the officer questioned him about "where the weed was." Not sure if he asked for consent to do so.

He might. He might not. Some cops care more about doing their job appropriately, some care more about catching the 'bad guy'. All depends on the cop.

Some good tips to keep in mind though... Always have your stash in a secure place. My personal favorite being a pouch I made in my pants that wouldn't be detected in a pat-down (knock on wood).

If you absolutely must smoke in your car, then above else, blend in.
Don't stop in an empty parking lot. Don't stop at parks after dark when they're closed. Don't be the only car in a given area. You'll stick out like a sore thumb.
Ideally, you should be moving (I take my drives out in the boonies, the less cops the better obviously). You should keep the car ventilated, not hotbox. You should be following every traffic law, and watching for cops at all times. Don't take a hit at a stoplight where everyone can see you. Keep something handy to cover up the odor; Ozium (check into it), body spray, cigarettes, etc.
If you do get pulled over, stay calm and be courteous. Don't be a pushover, but try not to arouse suspicion either.

Smoking in a vehicle is definitely risky. Just be cautious, and hope you have a little good karma stored up.

 

Well, why don't you enlighten us then?