A lot of resources have been used to train police dogs how to detect pot but new laws can change everything.

I was driving through Rockford the other day and there was a car pulled over by a police officer. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Was the driver speeding? Then I noticed there was a K-9 unit checking out the vehicle. Immediately, I knew they were looking for drugs.

The state of Illinois has spent thousands of dollars and hours to train drug-sniffing dogs to find marijuana.

What happens to these dogs if weed is legalized in Illinois?

According to pantagraph.com,

"If pot use becomes legal, the dogs would likely either have to be retrained which some handlers say is impossible or impractical or retired.  The biggest thing for law enforcement is, you're going to have to replace all of your dogs.”

What have they done in other states that have legalized marijuana?

"Some states have either attempted to retrain their animals to ignore pot or, for new police dogs, taught them to smell all narcotics other than cannabis. In other states, agencies have kept their pot-sniffing dogs and continued to search for large amounts of the drug not allowed under the law."

Experts don't believe the dogs can be retrained and that it will set back the whole K-9 program in Illinois.


 

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