With the rise in cannabis reform around the U.S. and beyond, there are plenty of systems surrounding criminalization that are steadily becoming less relevant. As legislators continue to introduce and work with new regulatory frameworks, many are also looking at how to best navigate some of these practices that are no longer needed.
A pair of Ohio lawmakers have put themselves to such a task with a new bill focusing on how to retire drug-sniffing dogs after the state made recreational cannabis legal last year, according to an Associated Press report.
Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma) and Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania) are the lead sponsors of House Bill 396, which would pay departments up to $20,000 to retire trained canines who previously worked to detect cannabis. In Ohio, nearly 400 police dogs trained to detect cannabis will need to be retired due to the legislative change as they cannot be reliably retrained.
Because these dogs are unable to fully unlearn the smell of cannabis, any alert they give to the presence of drugs could effectively be tried in court.
“If that dog alerts to something perfectly legal, that’s not grounds for search anymore,” Williams told local outlet WTOL 11. “Even if you find drugs afterward, it’s going to get thrown out, it’s going to get suppressed.”
If the bill is passed, funds could be used to offset the costs associated with acquiring, training and equipping dogs to alert to the smell of narcotics only, not cannabis.
Williams told the outlet that one canine can range anywhere from $7,500 to $20,000, calling the dilemma an “unintended consequence” of recreational cannabis legalization in Ohio. In the AP report, Whitehall Police Officer Matthew Perez gave a more moderate estimate ranging in price from $7,500 to $11,000, though he said some areas may be more expensive.
Perez also shared his support for the bill, specifically citing those departments that may not have as much money or profits coming in to support the replacement of these dogs.
“We’ve seen this coming since medical marijuana was initially implemented that this would eventually become a problem,” Williams said. He also mentioned that he didn’t believe anyone who voted in support of recreational cannabis knew this would be a problem for Ohio police departments, though it’s still a “real concern.”
Brennan estimated that the state will need 300 dogs to replace those currently trained to sniff out cannabis.
As far as the future for retired dogs? Whitehall Police Deputy Chief Dan Kelso said these canines live with their handlers, and upon retirement, handlers can buy the dogs from the city for $1.
So far, the bill has been introduced in the Ohio House but still must go through committees before it heads to the House and Senate floors.
The changes are the result of Issue 2’s passage last November by voters, which made Ohio the 24th state to legalize adult-use cannabis. The legislation allows adults over 21 to legally buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and grow plants at home. Each individual can grow up to six plants, maxing out at 12 plants per residence where at least two adults reside. It also imposes a 10% tax on cannabis purchases to go toward administrative costs, addiction treatment, municipalities with dispensaries and social equity and job programs.
Residents are not yet able to legally buy cannabis, as regulators and lawmakers are still working on how to phase in the regulated industry.
Other states with legal recreational cannabis programs have similarly had to navigate this issue.
Missouri opted to embrace an in-state training program, which helps to cut costs associated with training a dog out-of-state, though the Missouri Department of Public Safety also helped departments through the Canine Replacement Grant, which serves a similar purchase as Ohio’s HB 396.
