Some Wash. police dogs not smelling pot anymore

Some police departments in Washington state have stopped training their new dogs to sniff around for marijuana after voters last fall legalized recreational pot use.

Other departments are planning or in the midst of retraining veteran dogs to ignore marijuana.

The law decriminalized possession of up to an ounce of the drug for individuals over 21 years old. It also barred the distribution and growth of marijuana outside the state-approved system.

Police say that having a K-9 unit that doesn’t alert to pot will lessen challenges to obtaining search warrants because the dog won’t be pointing out possible legal amounts of the drug.

But some observers say police shouldn’t be making any changes because officers will still need to investigate illegal growing operations, as well as pot use and possession.