People
in 29 states can legally use medical marijuana for a variety of
problems, including the relief of pain, anxiety or stress. But what if
they want to travel with it?
Secure airport areas beyond the Transportation Security Administration
checkpoints are under federal control, and the federal government
classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 (most harmful) substance, even in
states where it is legal for adults to consume it.
The
laws conflict, but federal law trumps state law, making it illegal to
fly with marijuana in carry-on or checked luggage. It is also illegal to
transport marijuana across state lines, even if both states have
legalized it.
Still,
some passengers, especially on domestic flights, take the risk, because
searching for marijuana is not on the T.S.A.’s to-do list.
The
agency focuses “on terrorism and security threats to the aircraft and
its passengers,” a spokesman, Bruce Anderson, said. Airport screeners
are looking for things that can take down an airplane, like guns or
explosives, not marijuana, he said.
But
if screeners do notice marijuana in someone’s carry-on or checked
luggage, Mr. Anderson said, they will call in local airport law
enforcement officials to deal with it.
Of
the 54 million passengers who went through Denver International Airport
in 2015, the T.S.A. stopped just 29 for possession of marijuana, an
airport spokesman, Heath Montgomery, said. In those cases, as long as
the amount was legal for personal possession in Colorado — one ounce of
dried flower, for example — the local police simply asked the flier to
dispose of it, either by throwing it in the trash or taking it home. All
29 complied, and no tickets were issued.
In
2016, the airport did not keep a record of those stopped with the
substance. “The bottom line is, it’s not an issue,” Mr. Montgomery said.
Sales
of medical and recreational marijuana are legal in Colorado, and over
$1 billion of marijuana was sold through dispensaries last year, said
Matthew A. Karnes, founder of GreenWave Advisors, which analyzes the
industry. The comparatively small number of T.S.A. stops at the airport
may mean that travelers have gotten the message that it is illegal to
fly with marijuana and they leave it behind.
Or
perhaps they just pack it and travel with it in a way that is subtle
enough not to draw attention to it, said Lisa Smith of Seattle. She
often travels through airports with marijuana and says many of her
friends do as well.
Local
airport authorities handle the situation differently in different
states. In Florida, where medical marijuana is legal but recreational
use is not, few are stopped for possession in the airport, but they do
face penalties. Eleven of the approximately 2.8 million passengers who
were screened by T.S.A. at Jacksonville International Airport in 2016
were detained for possession of marijuana, said Michael D. Stewart, the
airport’s director of external affairs. All were arrested or given a
notice to appear in court, he said.
T.S.A.
agents with dogs that are sniffing people in line by security
checkpoints are looking for explosives, not marijuana. Dogs assisting Customs and Border Protection
agents, however, are searching for illicit drugs along with other
illegal substances, but only among passengers arriving in the United
States on international flights.
“Some
people like a glass of wine to relax when they travel,” Ms. Smith said.
“I prefer a little marijuana.” It is hard to find in some states, she
said, so “it’s easier to bring my own.” Medical and recreational
marijuana are legal in Washington State.
Typically
she takes loose marijuana in a plastic child-safe pill container. “Only
once has a T.S.A. agent pulled the container out of my purse,” she
said, “but that was because she was looking for a water bottle that had
set off the scanner.”
The agent put the marijuana back, Ms. Smith said. “I don’t think she noticed what it was.”
Ms.
Smith said she also traveled sometimes with edible forms of marijuana.
“I’ll take a couple of cannabis-infused chocolates or mints and transfer
them from their packaging to a container that isn’t labeled as a
cannabis product,” she said.
Cy
Scott, co-founder of Headset, a marijuana industry data analytics
company in Seattle, said the proliferation of new forms of cannabis made
it easier to take the substance on a flight.
“Along with cookies and chocolates, there are transdermal patches, sublingual drops, vape pens and topical ointments,” he said.
There
are 70,000 unique marijuana products sold in Washington State alone, he
said, “so there are endless ways to carry marijuana in a nonobvious
way.”
Jaime
Ruiz, chief of the Northern Border and Coastal Waters branch of the
Department of Homeland Security, would not speculate on whether the
odors in every processed marijuana product would be picked up by a
detector dog working for Customs.
“But
by experience, our canines have been able to detect odors in
unthinkable places and have found marijuana concealed in airtight
containers,” he said.
The
musician Melissa Etheridge said she used medical marijuana for pain
relief when she was being treated for breast cancer. She is now starting
her own cannabis business, offering products like baked goods,
tinctures and prerolled marijuana cigarettes aimed at people with pain
from arthritis, sports injuries or other conditions.
She
said she had carried marijuana in her checked luggage, but always
attaches her doctor’s recommendation to it. “Once the T.S.A. left a note
that they had inspected my luggage, and they left it right on top of my
weed,” she said.
The
conflict between legal consumers of marijuana and federal laws is bound
to worsen. Doctors’ recommendations for the drug are increasing as new
medicinal uses are discovered. And the number of states legalizing
medical and recreational marijuana continues to rise. At the same time,
Attorney General Jeff Sessions favors stricter anti-marijuana law
enforcement nationwide.
Ms. Etheridge said she had become more cautious about flying with marijuana.
So
far, though, said Mr. Anderson of the Transportation Security
Administration, “our policy and procedures in this have not changed.”
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