Report released on significance of odors in marijuana grow searches

UAA Justice Center faculty Dr. Brad Myrstol and Prof. Jason Brandeis, J.D., have released a report commissioned by the Alaska State Troopers (AST) and funded with federally forfeited illegal drug proceeds titled "The Predictive Validity of Marijuana Odor Detection." The primary purpose of the study was to determine to what extent the detection of marijuana odors serves as a reliable indicator of the presence of illegal quantities of marijuana. In 200 marijuana grow searches conducted by AST during the calendar years 2006, 2007 and 2008, marijuana was found and seized in 98.5% of the cases reviewed, and investigators reported detecting odors in 60.5% of the cases. The report indicates the odds of AST discovering four ounces or more of marijuana were 2.7 times greater than the odds when a search was not preceded by the detection of odor. The full report can be found on the Justice Center website.