Nose Telescope Helps Cops Sniff Out Marijuana [Video]


Nose telescopes are being used by police in Denver, Colorado to detect marijuana odors. You’d be right to be puzzled over this, especially as Colorado is set to become one of the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational use in 2014. This isn’t the only new law going on the books — Denver also recently passed a city “odor ordinance.”

Yes, you heard right: Denver citizens will now be fined for being excessively smelly. Fines for violating the new ordinance could be as high as $2,000, reports The Telegraph. As strange as that may seem, Denver Police plan to enforce the new rules using nose telescope devices called the “Nasal Ranger.” The devices will set the department about $1,500 per unit.

While odors in general will be policed, it is the pungent smell of marijuana that the ordinance targets. Recreational retail sales of pot are planned to begin on January 1, 2014 and business based in the new industry are already springing up. These industrial grow operations involve many marijuana plants that can end up filling the air with a unique odor that not everyone finds pleasant. So, while some may find the smoke from marijuana use offensive, the ordinance aims to take on bigger offenders.

The nose telescope, or olfactometer as it is technically named, will help cops in Denver measure an odor’s intensity, reports Live Science. The device is operated by inserting one end into the user’s nose, who then inhales. A dial controls the amount of air entering from the opposite end. The suspicious air passes through carbon filters which measures the amount of odor particles. The inside is even coated with teflon to prevent the build-up of odor residue. The new Denver ordinance is violated if the nose telescope detects one unit of odor per seven units of air.

While it may sound bizarre, the nose telescope is set to become the latest tool in Denver cops’ arsenal as the odor ordinance goes into effect.

[Image via YouTube / SourceFed]

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