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Illinois Cop's Warning: If You Legalize Weed, We'll Have to Kill Our Drug Dogs

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #1019)

As the state legislature ponders a bill that could make Illinois the 10th state to legalize marijuana, law enforcement is getting nervous. Old anti-marijuana shibboleths have lost their potency, but the Macon County Sheriff's Office has a brand new reason not to free the weed: They will have to kill their drug dogs.

drug dog at work (Creative Commons)
As the Daily Pantagraph reported in an article about what happens to marijuana-sniffing drug dogs in states where it is legal, the dogs typically are trained to detect a number of drugs and it is difficult to retrain them not to alert on marijuana. Other states that have legalized it have either retired their pot-sensitive dogs, tried to retrain them, or used them to search for large, illicit amounts of marijuana.

But Chad Larner, training director of the K-9 Training Academy in Macon County, scoffed at the notion of retraining, saying it would be "extreme abuse" to try to do so, and "Larner said a number of dogs would likely have to be euthanized."

That claim is a ridiculous "red herring," Illinois NORML executive director Dan Linn told the Pantagraph. "The idea that legalizing for adults to have an ounce on them will equal… all these dogs being euthanized, that seems kind of ridiculous and hyperbolic," he said.

Other Illinois drug dog cops contacted by the Pantagraph largely agreed with Linn. They said retired drug dogs "typically live with their handlers" and they "dismissed the idea that any would be euthanized because of retirement."

The Macon County sheriff doesn't go as far as his drug dog trainer, but he is a staunch opponent of marijuana legalization because… drug dogs.

"The biggest thing for law enforcement is, you're going to have to replace all of your dogs," said Macon County Sheriff Howard Buffett. "So to me, it's a giant step forward for drug dealers, and it's a giant step backwards for law enforcements and the residents of the community."

Sheriff Buffett isn't just any sheriff. He's the son of Omaha billionaire investor Warren Buffett, and he's used his family wealth both to finance law enforcement spending in the county and to basically buy his way into the sheriff's office. Earlier this year, he announced that his Howard G. Buffett Foundation was donating $1.4 million to the county to pay for everything from new records systems to new guns and ballistic vests. He was appointed to his position by retiring Sheriff Thomas Schneider last September and will serve until a new sheriff is elected in November.

Buffett also financed drug dogs across the state. His foundation paid $2.2 million in 2016 to support drug dog units in 33 Illinois counties. No wonder he and his employees are doing the 2018 version of the classic National Lampoon cover: "Buy This Magazine or We'll Kill This Dog."

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

michael griffin (not verified)

i suppose we could offer free euthize the drug cops so they wont have to kill the dogs  you read a lot o crazy stuff on the internt .this is one of those things.my answer is just as off the wall as theirs . whhat despicable proffiteers in human misery wont do to keep their pockets full of cash coming in ridioulas 

Thu, 05/10/2018 - 1:49pm Permalink
Anonymous3 (not verified)

Dogs, like helicopters, are to terrorize us with.  If they killed every frigging one of them, I wouldn't bat an eye.

Fri, 05/11/2018 - 2:17am Permalink
Michael Smith (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous3 (not verified)

Thank you If you want I will help kill the dogs for you.
Fri, 05/11/2018 - 6:51am Permalink
Michael Smith (not verified)

What about human being serving time in prison for marijuana. I don't care if you kill the dogs yourself. To help with your drug dogs.
Fri, 05/11/2018 - 6:50am Permalink
theotherShoreline1 (not verified)

By similar logic, indeed, we'll have to put away the drug cops as well, since they wouldn't refit into society in the normal way.  I'm just kidding, aren't I?  I mean, I'd like to have a conversation with them about the subject, but they want to force this militant-authoritarian attitude towards my perspective of the matter.  It's very irritating.  Who thinks it's a good idea to do what they tell us even when they are telling us something stupid.  They keep telling us that there is something magic and correct about their perspective when it is actually fraudulantly conceived, and allows little room for alternative perspectives, or freedom as some call it.  I suggest this is a fundamental misconception with regard to the true nature of reality.

Sun, 05/13/2018 - 7:57pm Permalink

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