Ohio Bill to Cover Drug Dog Replacement

The legalization of marijuana complicates what to do with police dogs imprinted on the smell.IMAGE: PexelsOhio's legalization of recreational marijuana will require law enforcement agencies to retire their marijuana-detecting K-9 officers, according to an article in Marijuana Index.

To address the financial challenges of replacing these police dogs, Ohio State Representative Joshua Williams has co-sponsored legislation to cover the costs. The bill would allow departments to request grants of up to $20,000 for each replaced K-9.

According to the article, this legislation is needed because marijuana-trained K-9s are imprinted with the smell of marijuana, but with the legalization of marijuana, these dogs are now detecting a lawful substance. The shift requires agencies to retire their marijuana-sniffing dogs and acquire new ones that are not trained on marijuana, Marijuana Index reported.

Retiring dogs and getting new ones puts a significant financial burden on agencies who spent upward of $12,000-$15,000 on marijuana-sniffing K-9s, according to the article.

The legislation proposes using funds from Ohio's new adult-use marijuana program tax revenue to reimburse communities for retiring and replacing marijuana imprinted dogs. By diverting a percentage of this income, the financial burden for law enforcement agencies affected by the change in the law can be lessened, Williams told the media outlet.