Stinky Michigan Town Buys $3,400 Device to Sniff out Marijuana

When it comes to weed, everyone can agree that the stinkier your stash is the better. However, this small Michigan town begs to differ.

The good old Michigan made homegrown pot for recreational use legal in 2018, and the situation has gotten so bizarre that a small town in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula has decided to buy an odor-detection device to sniff out the (un)pleasant smell of blooming marijuana plants. 

The town Bessemer, which is home to 1,905 people, has voted on purchasing a $3,400 “Nasal Ranger” device to detect people who are farming large amounts of weed in their backyards.

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The thing is, legalizing recreational marijuana didn’t mean everyone could go about their day, growing a marijuana forest in their basement. The law goes like this: Per residence, people (over the age of 21) can grow up to 12 marijuana plants in their homes. They are required to store their plants in a way that won’t be visible to the public which makes growing cannabis plants outside forbidden.

However, it looks like Michiganders were out and about to break some laws. The stench of marijuana has become so strong in some parts of the town, that it has become a public problem.

During a town meeting, the city council member Linda Nelson said, “The city of Bessemer stinks. You can smell marijuana everywhere. We’ve got people who can’t sit in their backyard because the smell from their neighbor is so bad.”

The police and the town folk suspect that some people aren’t playing by the rules and growing pot plants outdoors or in greater numbers than legally allowed. Such extreme problems need extreme solutions, which brings Nasal Ranger into the story.

The device looks kind of ridiculous since it’s basically a megaphone for your nose. However, it is capable of detecting and measuring odors. It notifies the user about the strength of the odor they are trying to track down, in this case, pot.

Police officers will be trained on the device, and they’ll be regulating the town’s “weed farms” and fining individuals who don’t comply with the law.

While the pleasantness of the smell of marijuana is up to debate, it makes you wonder about the police offers who are supposed to sniff around for weed all day.