Law enforcement has used canines for many decades as patrol partners for humans. These dogs have been trained to attack on command, search buildings, track for suspects or lost children, and more recently, they have been trained to sniff out illegal substances. Dogs are used by law enforcement every day to detect drugs, bombs, agricultural products, and cadavers.
Law enforcement has not pursued canine training for detecting prescription drugs, however. There is good reason for this—pharmaceuticals are legal drugs, and using a dog for probable cause to search a vehicle or other location would be illegal. Therefore, the training and use of prescription sniffing canines in law enforcement was not pursued. [Read more…]