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Two Ohio lawmakers are looking to ease a looming financial burden on law enforcement agencies in their state that will have to replace marijuana-sniffing dogs after voters approved a plan last year to legalize recreational marijuana use.<\/p>\n
Nearly 400 police dogs in Ohio trained in the detection of marijuana will need to be retired because they cannot be reliably retrained. That means any alert they give to the presence of drugs could be challenged in court because they cannot unlearn the smell of cannabis.<\/p>\n
State Rep. Sean Brennan, a Democrat from Parma, called that an \u201cunintended consequence\u201d of the decision by Ohio voters in November\u00a0to legalize recreational use.<\/a><\/p>\n 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\u2019t alert to the smell of marijuana.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t 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\u2019s a real concern,\u201d Brennan said.<\/p>\n He noted that acquiring the dogs and training them is a major expense.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that we\u2019re now going to need 300 canines, like overnight in Ohio, the demand for dogs and for training is going to be at a premium,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThese dogs can range (in price) from $7,500 to $11,000, and some places might sell them more,\u201d Perez said.<\/p>\n He encouraged support for the bill.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the (grant money) would be super beneficial for some departments that may not have as much money or profit coming in, you know, and they\u2019re needing a dog, or they\u2019re wanting a dog and they\u2019re wanting to continue that program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Whitehall Police Deputy Chief Dan Kelso said the dogs on staff live with their handlers and the handlers will be able to buy the dogs from the city for $1 when they\u2019re retired.<\/p>\n Under the referendum approved by voters, adults in Ohio can legally legally grow and possess cannabis at home. However, they cannot legally buy it yet since the state legislature and state regulators\u00a0are still debating<\/a>\u00a0exactly how the new rules will be phased in. A hearing on that plan was held Thursday, but it\u2019s not clear when a final decision will come.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2014<\/p>\n Shipkowski reported from Toms River, New Jersey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the new Fortune CEO Weekly Europe newsletter to get corner office insights on the biggest business stories in Europe. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n