Can an officer search my house because he concludes I'm on a controlled substance? 3 Answers as of February 09, 2012

Not unless you let him in. In addition, he cannot come in and arrest you without a warrant unless you walk out the door.

That's a good question - I could see the answer going either way. Many circumstances would come in to play: the reason the officer knocked on your door to begin with, whether it was your house, whether the knew it was your house or who you are, how he came to the conclusion that you were under the influence, etc. The gist of the legal analysis is whether there were exigent circumstances (usually possible destruction of evidence) that could justify a warrantless search. You need to have an attorney examine the police report.

The courts have held that whenever the government intrudes inside a person?s home, the action is considered a search for Fourth Amendment purpose and must always be accompanied by a search warrant ( absent exigent circumstances ) There is an ? exigent circumstances" exception to the warrant requirement. "Exigent circumstances" simply means that the officers must act quickly. Typically, because the police have a reasonable belief that evidence is in imminent danger of being removed or destroyed. However, there is still a probable cause requirement . To validate the search the officer needs to put into writing the reason that he thought evidence would be removed or destroyed and that reason has to meet the reasonable man test. In this case where the probable cause is the conclusion, by the officer, that the person answering the door is under the influence of a controlled substance does not on its face make it reasonable to think evidence will be missing in the time it would take for a warrant. You need to have an attorney go over all the facts and see if a motion to suppress the evidence should be made.