BUFFALO, N.Y. — With recreational marijuana legalized in the state of New York, there are a lot of changes to the criminal justice system and law enforcement. That includes a group of four-legged officers with great noses. We’re talking about K-9s.

What will their future be now as a lot of them have been trained to sniff out marijuana, and how have departments been preparing for any potential change in the law? We met up with the Buffalo Police Department’s K-9 Corps and the Niagara County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit to find out.

What You Need To Know

  • Some law enforcement agencies stopped training in the detection of marijuana years ago 

  • Law enforcement agencies still haven't decided what to do

  • K-9 units aren't going anywhere, they're too invaluable 

“We usually find stuff like this along fence lines or in bushes,” BPD K-9 Corps officer Stephen Mikac said as he hid fake drugs along a fence line.

It’s a Tuesday morning, and Buffalo Police’s K-9 Corps is training to make sure they’re still at their strongest when it keeps to keeping you and me safe. Some of that training, like taking down a suspect, for example, is still the same.

“The dog ran past the officer and engaged the suspect, and we are all standing right here,” Lt. Liz Baker, BPD K-9 Corps said. “This awesome environmental conditioning.”

The same goes for sniffing out explosives. But there’s one part of their training, especially when it comes to finding drugs, that’s not. And, it hasn’t been in years.

“The department, as of a couple of years ago, stopped training our narcotics dogs in the detection of marijuana,” Capt. Jeff Rinaldo, BPD said.

As of now, Capt. Rinaldo says only a couple of dogs in service are trained to sniff out marijuana. Once those K-9s retire, Rinaldo says replacement dogs will be trained for different services. Which brought us to our next question, what if a current K-9 detects marijuana?

“It’s no different than being in legal possession of cigarettes or alcohol,” Rinaldo said. “As long as you aren’t utilizing it while you are operating a vehicle.”

Remember, the legal amount is up to three ounces in New York State. If there is an instance where a larger, illegal stash is around, that’s where larger departments like the Niagara County Sheriff's Office could come in. K-9 Reggie is 13 months old and currently undergoing his training.

“We still haven’t decided on if we are going to imprint the odor of marijuana, to make him a marijuana detection dog,” Lt. James Hildreth said.

Lt. Hildreth says the sheriff’s office is still waiting on guidance from the state and Niagara County District Attorney on how to proceed. Until then, Reggie will be exposed to the scent of other narcotics.

“There are certain circumstances where having a marijuana detection dog is a useful asset to have, whether it be inside the schools or at the post office,” Hildreth said.

For both law enforcement agencies, there is one thing that’s certain: K-9 units aren’t going anywhere.

 “They are a crucial part of our unit, as you can see I can’t even come up with the words,” Baker said. “They are the constant backup officer, their nose, their sight, their skill level, we can’t match it.”

Not to mention, who doesn’t love seeing them out and about at events and saying hello.

In regards to the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, a spokesperson says the Police Services’ Division retired all canines trained to detect marijuana a couple of years ago. However, the unit at the jail is still trained, because marijuana is still considered contraband in jail.

The New York State Police are still reviewing the law change and have yet to make a decision on how to train its future K-9s.