Name: Cannabis-Sniffing K-9s: Out of a Job?
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For years, a police dog's keen sense of smell was all officers needed to search a vehicle and make an arrest. But that changed in Virginia on July 1 when the Commonwealth became the first southern state to legalize cannabis.This video was produced in collaboration with NOVA and is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Learn why a new law is forcing police to either retire or find new duties for drug-sniffing dogs.

Learn why a new law is forcing police to either retire or find new duties for drug-sniffing dogs.

For years, a police dog's keen sense of smell was all officers needed to search a vehicle and make an arrest! But that changed in Virginia on July 1 when the Commonwealth became the first southern state to legalize cannabis. Learn why the new law is forcing police to either retire or find new duties for drug-sniffing dogs.

The legalization of cannabis has forced police dogs to retire or find new duties.

Cannabis Sniffing K-9's: Out of a Job?

Cannabis-Sniffing K-9s: Out of a Job?

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Cannabis Sniffing K-9's: Out of a Job?Published: October 4, 2021Narrator: Murphy, a drug-sniffing police dog, might need a new job. As of July 1st, cannabis became legal for adult recreational use in Virginia, which means police K-9s trained to sniff it out will have to be retired or find a new line of work.James Duncan: The dog's nose is so phenomenal. A dog has about 220 million olfactory sensors compared to our 5 million, plus their brain is specially designed for smelling things. It's their main sense.Narrator: Murphy is one of nine highly trained dogs used by Chesapeake Police to track suspects and detect drugs, but now that the state of Virginia has legalized an ounce of cannabis for recreational use, Murphy's impeccable sense of smell is more of a liability than an asset.Erick Samuel: When we train our dogs, we train them from a basic rub to 20 pounds of marijuana that we train with. So the dog is actually just looking for that odor.Jeff Kleem: Once they've trained with all this stuff, it gets kind of hardwired. Once it's there, it can't be undone; you can't take one thing out and leave the rest.Narrator: Drug sniffing K-9s are often used to establish probable cause for a police search. But if the dog can't differentiate a legal drug from an illegal one, then the dog's alert is no longer valid in court.Kleem: And that's why a lot of these dogs are having to retire early, because of probable cause issues and stuff with it.Narrator: To train a patrol dog takes about four to five months and narcotics training takes several months after that.Kleem: Dogs usually cost $5- or $6-, $7,000, then you kind of double that the amount of training that goes into it, and that's 14-, $15,000. Small police departments can't afford to get new ones. Their K-9 units are kind of getting kicked to the curb.Duncan: Go start at six or seven.Narrator: Senior police officer James Duncan recently retired his partner and there was no question about where Boru would spend his retirement.Duncan: Love the dog. Absolutely love the dog. He's home with my wife right now. Phenomenal dog. Patrol and narcotics K-9.Narrator: The handlers say they probably spend more time with their K-9 partners than they do their own families.Samuel: We usually get them between one and three years old. They work pretty hard. I've never seen one handler that doesn't take them and doesn't love them and they become part of the family.Narrator: And when work is done, they go home together. This results in strong bonds, but it's the dog's ability to do their jobs well, that causes their handlers to proudly call them their partners.Duncan: See, you get me choked up thinking of my previous dog, Boomer. So, it's my dog and I'm responsible just like this is my gun and it comes with a lot of liability.Narrator: Officer Duncan's newest partner is K-9 Buzz and, unlike previous K-9 classes, Buzz is being trained under a new curriculum that does not include learning to sniff out cannabis.Samuel: When we do our training, we'll throw in distractors. We're going to throw marijuana in the mix as a distractor as well, to ensure that the dogs won't alert to marijuana. So six months down the line, this dog is certified. We want to be able to show the courts that this dog does not alert to marijuana.Duncan: Good boy. That's the right box.This box has the marijuana in it, which he completely ignores, just like it does the blank boxes, but that has his training aid in it.Good boy, Buzz.And this is his paycheck, that's his reward.Narrator: While some dogs are being retired, most of Chesapeake's police dogs have more than one skill. Dogs like Murphy can no longer be used for illegal drug detection, but they can be used for equally critical tasks like tracking down suspects or missing persons.This means Murphy can still earn his paycheck, and more importantly, continue to enjoy a great relationship with his human handler.Murphy's Handler: Good boy. Yes.Good boy. That's my boy.Good job.

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Cannabis Sniffing K-9's: Out of a Job?

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