By Scott Roblin

Medicine Hat Police’s K9 unit not sweating cannabis legalization

Sep 19, 2018 | 5:24 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The nose knows best for dogs working with the Medicine Hat Police Service, as sniffing out illegal drugs including marijuana has been a big part of their job.

But for Astor, Flint, and other K9 units across the country things are about to change.

Once marijuana becomes legal on October 17, there won’t be a need for police dogs in Canada to sniff out pot.

Sgt. Clarke White, who oversees Medicine Hat’s K9 unit, said over a three-year span they phased out cannabis training in their fleet.

HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

Summer pool hours extended and discounts applied as Big Marble Go Centre upgrades start

11h ago

Medicine Hat company drawing in clients with witty signage

Apr 16, 2024

Medicine Hat College holding event for missing and murdered Indigenous women awareness day

Apr 16, 2024

“The dogs that we did have trained for cannabis, they’ve all since retired just through attrition, and they were mature and moved on,” said White. “So, it’s not something that’s going to affect us.”

The unit’s two current dogs both have under three years experience and were purposefully excluded from cannabis training, as their handlers planned ahead for legalization.

White said it’s almost impossible to train specific drug detection out of police dogs and he’s glad they won’t have to do that with their two four-legged officers.

“If we had trained them and then we have a three-year-old dog on the street, essentially we have to retire that dog,” he said. “Because, we’re using that dog as our grounds to enter a vehicle for instance.”

Over the last year, some police groups like the RCMP and Edmonton Police Service have either had to retire or re-locate some dogs internally due to the pending legalization.

In a statement, the Canadian Border Services Agency said they aren’t expecting any major changes in their detector dog service due to the legalization of marijuana.

“Under the Cannabis Act, it will remain illegal to import into Canada, or export from Canada, cannabis and cannabis products without a valid permit, issued by the Government of Canada. Through its programs and services, the CBSA will continue to uphold laws governing the illegal cross-border movement of cannabis, while facilitating the free flow of legitimate people and goods. Detector dogs typically are 11 to 16 months old when training begins, and the DDS does not have any specific plans to recruit retired police dogs.”

According to White, Flint and Astor’s roles within the Medicine Hat Police Service are not expected to change.

Since January, the Medicine Hat K9 unit has completed a few dozen drug searches and White said that number has fallen over the last few years with legalization on the horizon.

“Back a few years ago, cannabis was very prevalent and the odour of cannabis is obviously very detectable,” he said. “So, I think in our searches we did a lot more back then.”

Canadian Police Canine Association president Jason Gunderson said officers will still need to have reasonable grounds while investigating drug cases.

“Really, it’s going to come down to agencies and officers themselves making determinations on, no different than they do now, what their grounds are for searches,” said Gunderson.

A lack of cannabis training hasn’t hindered the Medicine Hat unit however, as Astor and his handler Cst. Jason Ross recently earned first and third place showings at the 2018 CPCA National Championship Trials.

Facing competition from over 40 other teams, White said the podium results prove Medicine Hat’s abilities in both tracking and investigating.

“I think it goes to show the level of our training is second to none throughout the country,” he said.

Flint and Astor will continue to search for other drugs including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, while White confirmed they are planning to round out the police dog unit with two new dogs in the spring.