COLUMBUS ---A police officer can rely on his sense of smell as a sole reason to search for marijuana, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in an unanimous decision yesterday.

The court sent back to Lancaster Municipal court the case of a driver whose car and coat were searched during a traffic stop Feb. 28 1999.

Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Green did not have a search warrant. But he said he searched Christopher M. Moore after smelling a strong odor of marijuana and found drug paraphernalia in his coat and a burned marijuana cigarette in the car's ashtray.