February 3, 2015

Marijuana-Sniffing Police Dogs No Longer Needed In Oregon

February 3, 2015
k9 marijuana dog
k9 marijuana dog
(via ci.bend.or.us)

Drug detecting dogs have been used for decades by law enforcement in Oregon. That will continue to be the case when it comes to many substances. But with marijuana legalization only months away from becoming law in Oregon, most police agencies are no longer using them to detect marijuana, which is a huge shift in enforcement policies. Per Oregon Live:

It took Springfield police decades to get their own drug detection dog. And when Danner finally arrived last September, she could sniff out heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, but not marijuana.

The 2-year-old black Labrador is exactly what they wanted.

“I think we saw the writing on the wall after marijuana became legal in Washington and Colorado,” said Springfield Sgt. Rich Charboneau, who helped train the drug dog and the department’s other four patrol dogs. “We thought it could possibly happen here, so we decided we probably should not even train for it.”

I have been on the receiving end of a drug dog search on multiple occasions. With the exception of one instance, there was no marijuana in the vehicle I was riding in (although there was a lot of residual marijuana odor in the car). Those were scary experiences, and all ended with my friend’s cars being completely torn apart. In the cases where nothing was found, the officers didn’t help put the car back together or even apologize. I’m glad that in the future I will never have to endure and experience like that ever again. Go Oregon!

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