By
GT Staff
April 27, 2023
The Minnesota House of Representatives recently passed a bill allowing non-medical marijuana use for individuals over the age of 21.
However, some Republican representatives, like Brian Johnson, are worried about the future of police dogs trained to sniff out drugs.
During discussions leading up to the vote, Johnson expressed concern about the potential cost of replacing K-9s if marijuana became legal.
“I did not see anything reading through the bill dealing with our K-9 units,” Johnson said.
“Can you tell me how much money is in this bill to help defer the cost to our counties and police departments for the cost of the retirement of the dogs?”, Vice reported.
However, this sentiment ignores the fact that unemployment is the default for dogs, and K-9s are typically retired after a certain age or when they can no longer perform their duties.
This is not a new concern among politicians and law enforcement officials, as several K-9s have retired in states where marijuana has been legalized. In fact, Minnesota State Sen. John Jasinski, a Republican, brought up the issue in February during a committee hearing.
“What it’s gonna cost our law enforcement agencies who’ve… spent thousands and thousands of dollars on these dogs to get these dogs drug trained, and now they’re going to have to be retired. That’s a big issue. That’s a huge cost right there,” he said.
According to Police1, a website dedicated to law enforcement, reports that the cost of training a police dog can range from $12,000 to $15,000. This figure includes the necessary expenses such as acquiring and caring for the dog, as well as the training process itself.
In addition to the cost of the dog’s training, there is also the expense of paying the handler’s salary, who is typically a human officer responsible for working with the K9 unit.
