On the plus side, common sense appears to have prevailed in at least one American state where the subject was brought in front of the court and debated openly. The long and short of it being that after an extensive series of complaints from those not entirely happy with the smell of marijuana creeping into their smoke-free homes, the Oregon court of appeals really had no choice but to start taking the subject seriously.

Basically, the case presented on behalf of those filing the complaints argued that the smell of cannabis was ‘unpleasant’ and therefore had a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of those with an aversion to it. There are laws that exist in relation to certain unpleasant odours – sewage, rotten eggs, chemicals etc. – in order to protect the public, with critics in this instance looking to have marijuana classified in the same bracket. Unfortunately for them, the Oregon court of appeals decided that to no extent whatsoever does cannabis have an odour that could be considered offensive enough to be something of a public nuisance.

“We are not prepared to declare that the odour of marijuana smoke is equivalent to the odour of garbage. Indeed, some people undoubtedly find the scent pleasing,” the court ruled, which frankly came as an enormous surprise to those who hadn’t expected such a sensible outcome. Which for the time being at least means that regardless of how opposed to cannabis and its fragrance the people of Oregon may be, in a legal sense they have absolutely no choice but to shut up and smell the bud.