Marijuana legalization puts extra onus on police K-9s’ human partners

For years, dogs in police K-9 units have been used to detect several illegal drugs, including marijuana, but with pot’s legalization in Washington, there has been a complication.

Since the dog may be detecting a legal amount of marijuana – and can’t communicate that it is detecting another drug or a humongous amount of pot – police and sheriff’s deputies now have to document additional reasons why they believe an illegal amount of marijuana or a different controlled substance has been found. Otherwise, their search might not have probable cause and could be deemed illegal by a court.

“They’re not being retrained,” Sgt. Keith Cooper, of the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office, said. “It’s almost impossible.”

Still, Cooper said, “We don’t plan on getting rid of our dog.”

Cooper’s K-9 partner Unix, a German shepherd the sheriff’s office purchased in 2009 from Germany, was trained before the legalization of marijuana and can identify marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin, crack cocaine and cocaine.

Cooper said because it is still illegal to own over an ounce of marijuana or be in possession under the age of 21, there is still plenty for Unix to do, along with identifying the other drugs. Unix can also be called out to help execute search warrants with the Quad Cities Drug Task Force or the Drug Enforcement Administration, although they don’t usually get involved unless very large quantities are involved, he said.

Bob Calkins, Washington State Patrol spokesman, said a trooper has to present other facts, besides just the dog alerting on a vehicle, to believe a drug other than marijuana is inside. Other information, such as intelligence from an informant or an admission from a passenger, would be enough for a judge to issue a search warrant, he said.

For example, if a dog alerts on the trunk of a vehicle and a meth pipe is seen on the passenger seat, that would provide enough reason to apply for a search warrant, he said.

“You have a lot of other factors in there,” Cooper said.

A memo from the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys said officers need “additional evidence” to support the belief a drug other than marijuana, more than an ounce of marijuana is present, or that the individual is involved in manufacturing or distributing marijuana. That could include statements from the suspect or informants, criminal history, evidence of impairment, the location of the canine’s alert or apparent false panels to the door panels, according to the memo.

“Marijuana was the first drug we trained on,” Cooper said.

Once trained on marijuana, Cooper said, he can’t be 100 percent sure Unix is not alerting on marijuana, rather than other drugs. Imagine telling a human who is right-handed to use their left hand to write, he said.

“It’s muscle memory,” Cooper said.

So, even if training on one drug – marijuana – isn’t reinforced ever again, it can’t be guaranteed the original training won’t pop up years later, Calkins said.

“We have stopped any new reinforcement training of marijuana,” he said. “But there is a danger it may hit out of the clear blue sky.”

Unix still has at least another eight years of work left in him, Cooper said.

There is an initial eight-week-long training course, re-certification every two years and 16 additional hours of training each month, he said. The county invests $25,000 to $30,000 in training one dog, Cooper said.