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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) A Burleigh County commissioner will not be prosecuted after police found a marijuana cigar in a car he was driving.

Mark Armstrong was investigated for possessing marijuana following a Jan. 26 traffic stop, because the registration on the 1989 Honda Accord he was driving was expired. According to the report, the vehicle was registered to a family member of his, though Armstrong told officers he pays insurance on it and six other vehicles.

Following an investigation, prosecutors determined earlier this month that he did not possess the marijuana “blunt” willfully after Armstrong was pulled over on January 26 in Bismarck.

“The police acted appropriately, and I was exonerated,” Armstrong said.

Bismarck police officer Kai Engstroem wrote in the report, “As I approached the driver’s side window, I immediately noticed a strong odor I recognized as that of burnt marijuana through my training and experience,”

Armstrong told the officers his nose was plugged and he could not smell the marijuana. A police dog later “indicated” on the location of the blunt, which was placed into evidence and sent to the state crime laboratory for analysis.

Armstrong confirmed Monday that, while he is not a marijuana user, he believes marijuana should be legalized. He said it is a position about which he has been vocal since his days as a radio personality.

Because of Armstrong’s position as a county commissioner, State’s Attorney Richard Riha asked Barnes County State’s Attorney Lee Grossman to review the report and determine how the case should be handled.

Grossman, in emails between him and Burleigh County Assistant State’s Attorney Lloyd Suhr, declined to prosecute for either possession of marijuana by a driver or possession of drug paraphernalia. Grossman wrote that the facts of the case, including the location of the blunt in the center console, the fact that the blunt was old and that Armstrong was not under the influence of marijuana, show “there is no evidence to prove that Armstrong had used it or intended to use it.”

“It is quite obvious that there was drug paraphernalia in the vehicle Armstrong was driving,” Grossman wrote. “However, the requisite intent by Armstrong is harder to prove.”