Can Your Dog Get Arrested for CBD?
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Can your dog get arrested for CBD? Indiana is still duking it out over whether it is legal to possess a non-intoxicating cannabis extract called cannabidiol (CBD). This debate struck a bizarre chord earlier this week. The mayor of one Hoosier town asked the state’s leading law enforcement authority a perplexing question. He asked if his dog would risk arrest for using the substance for medicinal use.
Doggone Prohibition
During a recent panel discussion on marijuana policy, Hammond mayor, Thomas McDermott, had a pressing concern. Can your dog get arrested for CBD? He even gave Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill the third degree over it. The question tickled those in attendance, prompting some laughter throughout the facility. But McDermott was as serious as a heart attack about his inquiry.
Over the summer, Indiana legalized CBD for patients suffering from certain types of epilepsy. This development prompted some stores around the state to begin stocking cannabis oil. Some reports indicate that the oil actually became a rather hot commodity in certain locations.
But the situation eventually turned sour, as local law enforcement agencies began swooping in to bust these operations. It was eventually determined by the attorney general’s office that the sale of cannabis oil was still illegal in Indiana until the state launched its medical marijuana registry in 2018. Even then, only qualified patients would have permission to possess it.
This means any person caught in possession of CBD, who does not have the appropriate documentation from a doctor indicating that they are using it for medical purposes, can still face arrest.
But what about a dog?
Teddy The Dog
Mayor McDermott told Attorney General Hill that he has a 12-year-old yellow lab named Teddy. Teddy suffers from arthritis and problems with his hip. He explained that his veterinarian advised him to put Teddy on a regular regimen of CBD to help ease the severity of the condition.
After starting this treatment, it wasn’t long, McDermott explained, that his lab began to get better: he was moving around easier, he had more energy and an improved appetite, he said.
According to the Indianapolis Star, McDermott did not get the CBD through a local source. He purchased it from a company that makes edible CBD products for dogs. The company delivered it to his front door.
Curtis insists that this method of obtaining CBD goes against the grain of both state and federal law. Whether the CBD is for a person or for a dog, it remains an outlaw substance. Because of this, can your dog get arrested for CBD?
Final Hit: Can Your Dog Get Arrested for CBD?
So no, while police officers will not arrest McDermott’s dog Teddy for possession of CBD-infused dog biscuits, McDermott himself could easily see the inside of a jail for this crime, Curtis explained.
But the threat of incarceration for a non-intoxicating medicine is not about to stop this veteran and longtime mayor from treating his furry friend with CBD. He told the Star that he would continue medicating Teddy with the oil, despite Curtis’ “grandstanding” on the issue.
“I don’t intend to have my dog go through pain because the attorney general is trying to score political points,” McDermott said.
The post Can Your Dog Get Arrested for CBD? appeared first on High Times.
