Former US vice-president Al Gore's son was charged with marijuana possession after being stopped by police while driving a car on Friday night, a statement from the Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Police Services, said.

Albert Gore III, 21, was driving a Cadillac in downtown Bethesda when the police asked him to pull over.

On approaching the car, Officer Robert Cassels noticed that the windows and the sunroof were opened despite the freezing temperature, and he "smelled the odour of marijuana coming from inside the car", the statement said.

A search of the car found a partial marijuana cigarette and a cardboard cigarette box with a baggie containing suspected marijuana, the statement said.

In addition to Gore, police charged two male passengers in the car with a misdemeanour count of marijuana possession. The three were released from jail, pending trial.

This is not the first time that Gore, a Harvard student, has got into trouble with the authorities. He was ticketed for reckless driving by North Carolina police in August 2000; in September 2002 he was arrested for drunk driving near a military base in Virginia.