Drug Dog Ignores Marijuana: Washington Narcotics K-9 Only Trained To Find Other Substances

Dusty the narcotics dog has one refined snout, but unlike other K-9s, it won't go off when he smells a little marijuana.

The 18-month-old black lab has been trained to sniff out heroin, cocaine and meth, but not pot -- which is legal under Washington state law after Initiative 502 was passed last year.

Dusty is part of the Bremerton, Wash. police force and was originally bred to be a birding dog, but was too restless, according to a report by The Columbian.

The outlet reports that a few other state agencies plan to train their K-9 units to ignore marijuana, including the Washington State Patrol and tribal police departments. KOMO news reported earlier this year that the drug was removed from police dog guidelines set by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission.

In a split decision made earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement officers cannot bring narcotics dogs onto private property without first obtaining a search warrant.