Young people who go to music festivals are familiar with the sight of drug detection dogs guarding entrances. However, how effective are they in minimizing harm when there have been two more deaths from overdoses and numerous hospitalizations at music festivals in Australia?

These dogs are not effective in stopping most drug abuse. These dogs can encourage drug use, but they are also known to criminalize and traumatize marginalized communities and render all suspects possible.


New South Wales is where the police often use dogs on streets and bars. Labor and Greens MPs call for their banning. A bill to ban their use is currently being considered by parliament. Victoria has a parliamentary inquiry to decide whether dog operations should be stopped.


The dogs were defended by police agencies, who claimed they sent a clear message to the community that drugs will not be tolerated.


why drug detection dogs are sniffing up the wrong tree



Consider the negatives


These claims exaggerate the deterrent power of dog programs. These claims ignore the negative effects that dogs have on drug users, marginalized people, and society.


Contrary to "specific" drug detection work, in which dogs help police locate drugs on the property after a court-issued warrant search, "general" detection work involves dogs being used in public and institutional settings to find people suspected of carrying drugs.


A positive dog alert is used in these situations to add to or constitute the reasonable suspicion required to search.


Police can increase their chances of finding drugs in a search by using a dog as a guide. These benefits are, however, greatly offset by:


  • Most people who were found with drugs had small amounts for personal use and not trafficable quantities.

  • Dogs do not identify most people who are drug addicts.

  • The vast majority (60-80%) of the people whom dogs identify are not using any drugs.


Civil liberties are being affected


There are more than 15,000 searches based on drug alerts every year in NSW since 2009. It is not surprising that concerns about civil liberties, police-community relations, and other issues have been raised.


One can easily compare the experience of being searched with detection dogs by police to being searched in an airport or store. Even when there are no criminal offenses, it is a feeling of being a suspect. This feeling is undoubtedly compounded by those whose marginalized identities render their identities suspect.


Nearly everyone I have interviewed that has been searched for drugs or non-drugs reported some form of embodied trauma like shame, humiliation, anger, frustration, anger, frustration, and anger. Others have shared similar stories of trauma and violations.


Drug-dog advocates might think that making people feel shameful and afraid is a good way of deterring them from using drugs. However, shame and fear are poor motivators for positive behavior change. Fear and shame can instead have negative side effects, such as increased anxiety, decreased health-seeking behaviors and impacts on wider social relationships.