Nothing to sniff at

WHITEHALL, Ohio>> Two state lawmakers are looking to ease a looming financial burden on law enforcement agencies that will have to replace marijuana-sniffing dogs after voters approved a plan last year to legalize recreational marijuana use.

Nearly 400 police dogs in Ohio trained in the detection of marijuana will need to be retired because they cannot be retrained reliably. That means any alert they give to the presence of drugs could be challenged in court because they cannot unlearn the smell of cannabis.

State Rep. Sean Brennan, a Democrat from Parma, called that an “unintended consequence” of the decision by Ohio voters in November to legalize recreational use.

Brennan and Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania, are the lead sponsors of a bill that would provide each agency with up to $20,000 per dog to offset the cost of acquiring, training and equipping narcotics dogs that don’t alert to the smell of marijuana.

“I don’t think that anybody that voted for the issue either intended or knew that this was even going to be a problem for our police departments, and it’s a real concern,” Brennan said.

He noted that acquiring the dogs and training them is a major expense.

Whitehall Police Officer Matthew Perez, a trained dog handler who serves with his canine partner Rico, said the measure would greatly help communities such as his. “These dogs can range (in price) from $7,500 to $11,000,” Perez said.

Whitehall Deputy Police Chief Dan Kelso said the handlers will be able to buy the dogs from the city for $1 when they’re retired.

— The Associated Press