Decriminalization of marijuana is pushing pot-sniffing police dogs into retirement
Peter Hermann, Justin Jouvenal 28 mins agoApparently, no one told the officers’ canine colleagues that their pot-sniffing days were over.
The D.C. Office of Police Complaints, an independent agency that reviews and investigates allegations of misconduct, questioned the canines’ continued use in detecting drugs and criticized the department for failing to amend its practices following the change in the law six years ago.
The problem is that certain dogs used by police were trained to alert to several drugs. That includes marijuana, which, depending on the amount, could now be legal. Their human handlers cannot tell which drug the dogs have noticed.
Dustin Sternbeck, a D.C. police spokesman, said Friday that the department agreed with the agency’s assessments and will no longer deploy those dogs during traffic stops and other routine patrols. He also said the police department is phasing out canines trained to smell marijuana and other drugs.
The D.C. police department is among the latest law enforcement agencies around the country forced to change how its canine members perform their jobs as more states legalize marijuana in one form or another. Police in Virginia, Colorado, California, Michigan and Massachusetts have retired or repurposed drug-sniffing canines.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/decriminalization-of-marijuana-is-pushing-pot-sniffing-police-dogs-into-retirement/ar-AAM9X2s?ocid=msedgntp
