What happens if TSA finds weed in my bag?

You’re flying from a state the place marijuana is legal to a state the place marijuana is authorized. You assume which means you’re within the clear, however you’d be wrong. Regardless of your departure and arrival locations, it’s nonetheless unlawful to fly with marijuana.

That’s as a result of marijuana possession nonetheless remains illegal under federal law, and once you fly, federal companies are in cost.

6 questions about flying with marijuana, answered

The Transportation Safety Administration is in command of security whereas the Federal Aviation Administration controls the airways. Then, in case you’re coming into the nation from overseas, there’s Customs and Border Safety.

They implement federal legal guidelines, and “on the federal degree it stays criminal to own any quantity of hashish even for medical functions,” says Brett Schuman, a companion at Goodwin regulation agency and co-chair of its hashish apply. (There’s a caveat: Hashish is legal if it comprises not more than 0.3 p.c THC on a dry weight foundation.)

So it’s unlawful to convey marijuana — from joints to edibles — by means of airport safety, fly with it or undergo customs and immigration with it in your checked or carry-on bag, even in case you are flying between two locations the place it’s authorized.

Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply you’re going to federal jail if TSA finds weed in your bag.

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“TSA has been clear that its focus is on safety for us, the passengers, and never medicine,” says Shawn Hauser, a companion on the nationwide hashish regulation agency Vicente Sederberg LLP and co-chair of the agency’s hemp and cannabinoids division.

I’ve spoken to TSA a number of occasions on the subject, and their policy is easy: “TSA is just not looking for marijuana or different medicine,” TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein stated in an electronic mail. “And take note, the TSA canines are educated to detect explosive odors, not medicine.”

If TSA officers discover marijuana or different medicine throughout a routine screening course of, they’re presupposed to notify native regulation enforcement, who makes the ultimate name.

That last name can differ. If you happen to’re in a state the place marijuana is legal, native regulation enforcement isn’t probably to reply to airport calls in the event that they discover it. And in the event that they do, Hauser says they wouldn’t arrest somebody who’s in compliance with state regulation (for instance, authorities at LAX can’t arrest you for having some hashish if it’s inside the authorized quantity California permits.)

TSA might solely confiscate marijuana, let you know to throw it away or “they could ask you to place it in an amnesty box and even take it to your automobile,” Hauser says. Some airports prohibit marijuana possession on their property and might fine passengers caught breaking their rule.

Then once more, “this isn’t written down wherever, however particular person TSA officers may train discretion to not report you in any respect,” Schuman says.

You’ll be able to run into extra important penalties in case you’re carrying larger amounts of weed or touring by means of a state that continues to be staunchly anti-cannabis like Idaho, Nebraska or Texas, Schuman says.

No, you can’t fly high or drunk

In anti-pot states, it’s usually different authorities — not TSA — that discover marijuana and cost vacationers.

CBP has been recognized to find marijuana in passenger’s baggage, typically with the assistance of drug detecting K-9s, which may end up in fines, criminal charges or dropping your Global Entry membership.

There are additionally excessive instances of authorities discovering vacationers carrying massive quantities of weed. In Arkansas, detectives and their drug-detecting canines discovered 180 pounds of marijuana in a lawyer’s baggage on the Little Rock airport final 12 months.

That very same month in Tennessee — a state that’s “adamantly against” hashish — a drug canine employed by the Drug Enforcement Administration and native detectives discovered 12 baggage of marijuana in baggage on the Memphis airport, resulting in the detainment of the bag’s proprietor, a search warrant for his home, and, later, prison fees, FOX13 Memphis reported. In December, two Spirit Airways vacationers in Nashville have been booked into the Metro jail and charged with felony drug possession after a Okay-9 unit discovered 18 pounds of marijuana of their baggage on the airport.

It’s “fairly uncommon” to see on a regular basis vacationers face authorized penalties for small quantities, Hauser says, regardless of having a consumer detained at an airport in a state the place weed is against the law, who then went by means of “a easy courtroom continuing that was rapidly resolved.”

Schuman concurs. He’s not conscious of the “common Jane or common Joe touring by means of an airport with a pre-roll or package deal of gummies” who has spent any time in jail.

However though TSA isn’t on the lookout for your pot, “the highest line reply needs to be: This stays federally unlawful,” Schuman stated,

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