Out of a job - drug sniffing police dogs!

[zeebudz]

Drug-sniffing dogs that are trained to detect marijuana are complicating searches where pot has been legalized. That’s forcing some into early retirement.

Quote

“A dog can’t tell you, ‘Hey, I smell marijuana’ or ‘I smell meth,’” said Tommy Klein, Rifle’s police chief. “They have the same behavior for any drug that they’ve been trained on. If Tulo were to alert on a car, we no longer have probable cause for a search based on his alert alone.”

Older canine workers across the country — and 14 narcotics dogs in Canada, where retail marijuana sales began last month — are being eased out of the labor force. When the Police Department in Winnipeg, Manitoba, went shopping this year for a pup, the Belgian Malinois they chose, named Ivy, arrived with a more modern advantage: She has no reaction to marijuana.

In many places that have legalized the drug, including California, Oregon, Maine and Vermont, most new recruits are, like Ivy, no longer being trained to sniff out pot. And even departments in states where marijuana remains verboten are hedging their bets.

“I just did a dog for a department in Texas that asked me not to put marijuana on her,” said Ron Cloward, the owner of Top Dog Police K-9 Training and Consulting in Modesto, Calif. “They had the feeling there could be some changes coming there, and they wanted to plan ahead.”

In Colorado, an appeals court ruling last year helped hasten Tulo’s retirement. Kilo, a drug-detection dog in rural Moffat County, flagged a man’s truck for containing contraband. When officers searched it, they found a pipe with what appeared to be methamphetamine residue.

 

The article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/24/business/marijuana-legalization-police-dogs.html

[Restorium2]

Most of the police dogs that sniff out pot are also trained for explosives. 

[Wild Bill]

I've worked at several entertainment venues that employ bomb dogs. They check for gunpowder or other explosives.

Although I have seen several people ditch their bags when they see the dogs thinking they are drug dogs.

If they actually screened for drugs at concerts most of the patrons and a large percentage of the employees would have to leave.

[zeebudz]

On 11/27/2018 at 7:45 AM, Restorium2 said:

Most of the police dogs that sniff out pot are also trained for explosives. 

 From https://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2016/11/28/how-legalized-marijuana-affect-reno-police-dogs/94397850/

Quote

 “The Reno Police Department has five canine/handler teams. Not all of the canines are trained the same. For example, we have a canine that is certified in explosive detection, others that are used for tracking purposes, area searches, article searches; and several that are used for patrol purposes and drug detection. Those that are certified in drug detection are generally certified to detect the odor of marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy) and heroin.”

Also, if a dog were trained for both explosives and drugs the same probable cause issue would occur (since it can't tell the handler whether it sniffed cannabis or explosives).

[Restorium2]

12 hours ago, zeebudz said:

 From https://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2016/11/28/how-legalized-marijuana-affect-reno-police-dogs/94397850/

Also, if a dog were trained for both explosives and drugs the same probable cause issue would occur (since it can't tell the handler whether it sniffed cannabis or explosives).

They explained it on several shows lately. They can instruct the dog on what to 'hit' on. Dogs can have more than one use. Their training isn't specific on one substance. They are given a scent and they key on that scent. 

[garyfisher]

Most drug sniffing dogs are used to circumvent the 4th amendment, IMO, unconstitutional.