Drug Sniffing Dog: Heidi Investigates Studio City's Medical Marijuana Controversy

Even though Heidi is a rescue, found barely surviving in a storm drain in Houston,  she has never seemed to be a “damaged” dog. Not skittish or aggressive or shy.  Her sweet, trusting temperament suggested she somehow got separated from a loving home. 

But when we first adopted her, Heidi’s mysterious past sometimes led me to speculate a far more romantic story than her jumping a white picket fence. Because she is a German Shepherd mix, maybe she was in training to be a leader for the blind, or a police K9 agent, or—my favorite—a drug-sniffing dog.

I would watch Heidi put her nose to the ground, slapping her big front paws as she padded down our front hallway, on the trail of…well, nothing. She was so focused, it was easy to imagine this was a learned behavior from the elite boarding school she must have escaped as a puppy—say, the Famous Texas Institute for Super Smart Substance-Sniffing Shepherds. 

Since she came to us in 2003, I’ve reluctantly come to accept that Heidi’s behavior is probably just part of her  DNA.  But I did recall my former fantasy this week as Heidi and I set out on a mission:  To investigate the .

Because she was an actress before she turned reporter, I thought it was important to put Heidi on a serious story instead of a puff piece, to prove she's not just another pretty news bimbo with TV aspirations.  Although, come to think of it, a marijuana store could be considered a "puff" piece. Anyway, I wanted an excuse to walk into one of Studio City’s many pot dispensaries, wondering what it was really like behind those many closed doors adorned with green crosses or green leaves. Otherwise I probably never would, since my own  substance of choice is usually pie.

First, we stopped at  on Ventura Boulevard, next door to a store; the irony was not lost on us.  But we were abruptly turned away from this establishment by a young man behind what appeared to be a bullet-proof barrier, who told us: “We don’t do any press.”

Moving to the other side of Ventura, I dragged the treat-sniffing Heidi past her very favorite place, down the block to visit (11626 Ventura), the building's entire facade painted St. Patrick's Day green.  The folks inside were friendly, but were reluctant to give names and said we’d have to come back after 6 p.m. and talk to “Raffi” if we wanted to find out more about the business.

Where's a dog supposed to get a joint these days?  We kept driving west until we reached Laurel Canyon, and headed north. When I wasn’t looking for them, it seemed like there was a medical pot shop on every block; now I wasn’t seeing any at all. That is, until we a saw a big sign in green lettering, MARIJUANA DOCTOR in a strip mall just north of Riverside (next door to Valley's  Pizza Land in case you prefer a, er, pizza joint). The sign also boasted a "$60 special." Better yet, a big chocolate-brown dog with a white frost on his muzzle was lounging outside.

I entered without asking whether dogs were allowed—if we got kicked out, we were used to it.  People in the lobby stared; although the doctor's office is a legal business, Heidi's breed suggests an imminent drug raid, or at least some sort of police activity.  The receptionist directed us to wait for the manager. 

The manager, Jason Frisch, was happy to talk to us—probably less cautious than the staff of the other shops we visited because this was a doctor's office, not a  marijuana dispensary, meaning you can get a "recommendation" here, but no actual weed.  That recommendation (not a "prescription," Frisch pointed out) then must be taken to a dispensary— illegal by federal law, but at present the state of California chooses not to interfere with medical dispensary sale.

Sitting outside with Heidi and Louie, Frisch's 6-year-old German Shorthair, Frisch, who also manages an office in Hollywood,  said he wouldn't want to be in the business of selling marijuana.  

"This is a doctor's office, so we're not  really involved in the controversy," he said. "We just offer a recommendation that [pot] may be helpful for your condition." Where you actually get the pot for your anxiety, isomnia, pain or other problem is up to you, he said.

I asked Frisch if anyone had ever sought a recommendation for pot for a dog— after all, many large breed dogs, including Heidi, have joint issues and arthritis (Heidi takes glucosamine, MSM, chondroitin,  fish oil, and Rimadyl).

Not to his knowledge, Frisch said.  And although a dog could certainly eat marijuana,  his own guess as a dog owner was  it wouldn't be a good idea, because of the "side effect" of getting stoned, which would be hard to explain to your poodle. "Dogs like to be in control," he said.  

Well, since this office didn't have pot on the premises, I wasn't going to get my chance to see if the substance would send Heidi into the same kind of frenzy that I saw when I watched an online video of a bloodhound in training for the F.B.I.'s  Scent Dog Program. Clearly, her past would remain a mystery, at least for now.

But judging from Heidi's reaction as I pulled her away from the opportunity to enter the open doors of Rusty's Discount Pet Center, if ever there's a controversy over dog biscuit dispensaries in Studio City, she's all over it.