As states across the U.S. are going either medical or recreational with their cannabis laws, it can be difficult to effectively regulate cannabis with travel amongst legal states. Recreational cannabis has been legal in places like Colorado and California for a while now. Even with cannabis being federally illegal at this point in time, some areas are becoming more relaxed regarding traveling with cannabis in carry-on luggage between states that mutually agree with cannabis legalization.
On the Los Angeles Airport Police Department’s website, the APD stated that California Police Officers will now allow passengers to travel through LAX with up to 28.5 grams of marijuana and 8 grams of concentrated marijuana. Both states must have the same legal stance on cannabis, however, passengers are still made aware that cannabis may not be consumed while at the airport, even while in clubs or lounges.
As 2020 has brought on many obstacles, COVID-19 made things extremely difficult on most across the world. Cannabis, for likely the first time ever, was deemed essential to many. In places where cannabis is used for medicinal purposes, patients were requesting for their legal medicinal cannabis throughout the mandatory stay-at-home orders. Many states such as Nevada allowed for direct-to-residence transportation which was previously denied to businesses, and those states who already had delivery to consumers became more lenient for those delivery processes.
Many people in the United States travel across state lines to reach better health care services and rates than what is available close to home. Along the same lines, cannabis consumers, especially patients consuming it as alternative medicine, want to continue to have access to their legal cannabis. With the allowance of traveling with a small amount, this flexibility allows for users to safely use regulated cannabis products as opposed to black market unregulated untested cannabis products.
This case brings up the question, though: What happens if you have a connecting flight in a state that does not allow cannabis of any kind? Planes themselves are still subject to federal law, meaning there is still the possibility of facing fines or detention for traveling with any THC products. But with carry-on luggage being so easily accessible while at the airport and in flight, monitoring personnel could have difficulty regulating passengers traveling with cannabis. These issues, along with diversion prevention rules in place, make this evolving issue something to watch in the coming years.
About the Author:
Haley Glover has several years of experience in the security industry developing and managing security integration projects for Cannabis, Jewelry, Pawn, and the Department of Defense clients. She is currently a business development and account manager for Sapphire Risk Advisory Group. Haley has also received her Level 1 Alarm Technician License from ESA.