Law enforcement agencies throughout Virginia are being forced to retire their drug-detecting dogs because adult recreational use of marijuana becomes legal on July 1.
The newly trained K-9s will be able to detect other illegal drugs oincluding cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines. Virginia state police are retiring 13 K-9s, while some smaller police departments which can’t afford to buy retrained dogs are disbanding their K-9 teams. Many retired dogs end up being adopted by their handler.