I just got back from a half-month trip to Jamaica where i have been working on the development of a marijuana training aid. It is quite difficult to develop an effective training aid for a natural product as there are many selection decisions to be made. The scent signatures of marijuana samples acquired in the United States were not consistent as there were too many different strains of marijuana with different headspace components. However, using the wild-growing marijuana of the West Indies as a base material, i was able to isolate the common odors within all marijuanas out of the >200 components that make up the headspace scent signature of the material. So, it is not impossible to make effective training aids from natural products.

For those who have narcotic detector K9's, please tell me, does your K9's sometimes walk some types/strains of marijuanas or does your K9 alert on all types of marijuana?

I’ve never seen an issue where any of the 40+ dogs I work with have walked a “type” of marijuana. We run into everything from home grown to BC Bud.


On a side note… Only time I’ve run into an issue with this was with Meth. One DEA supplied meth was a yellowish granulated meth and the other DEA supplied meth was more clear and crystalline.

 Quote: matthew grubb

I’ve never seen an issue where any of the 40+ dogs I work with have walked a “type” of marijuana. We run into everything from home grown to BC Bud.

Thanks for your response Matt! So, we can quasi-establish that from the K9-trainer/handler experience and perspective, a K9 trained on one type of marijuana may detect all types of marijuana. Would this be correct to imply?

However, how about this...it is well known for detector-K9's, including those trained on marijuana, to have difficulties in pinpointing the location of large amounts. Have you, or anyone, noticed a difference in the weight amounts required for each type of marijuana to bring the K9 to a level that they start to have difficulties in pinpointing the location of the stash? My research suggests that the weights of marijuana to bring a threshold and also to bring desensitization are different for the different strains of marijuana.

 Quote: matthew grubb

On a side note… Only time I’ve run into an issue with this was with Meth. One DEA supplied meth was a yellowish granulated meth and the other DEA supplied meth was more clear and crystalline.

The reality of our situation is that the DEA does not make drugs for the K9 community. Through their graciousness and mandate, the DEA provides the detector-K9 community with drugs that have been seized from drug dealers and smugglers at different stages of the distribution chain (which affects the purity levels). Unfortunately it gets to the detector-k9 community 10 years after it was first seized. Although they provide us with the %purity of the meth they provide (i always wonder when they measured the purity, when it was first seized 10 years before or before a chunk of it was given to the trainer), it would be nice if they could also provide detailed information on the the types of adulterants available within the meth and their composition levels too. This information is very important to the detector-k9 profession (and could help the DEA too in many ways), as trainers might have to proof K9's off some of these adulterants available in their aids in order to improve the efficacy of their K9's.

The DEA gives us what we ask for: the drugs, and their level of purity. If they are to be the only legal source of "real" training aids maybe we should ask for more information on the drug's full composition. Even the presence of 5% composition of certain adulterants within a narcotic can render it inefficient as a training aid. Associations too can start off by doing certifications using drugs that are greater than 96% pure and not just being DEA certified.

The yellow meth is an impure form of the crystal meth. This impurity might come from the presence of the hydrochloride or from the fact that the meth had gone through an initial stage of adulteration. Did the DEA give the purity levels of these 2 samples? Please Matt, interest me, how did the K9's respond to these samples?