Can you bring weed on a plane? It’s complicated

As weed becomes legal in more states, how and if travelers can bring their stash on board remains up in the air.

Twenty-one stages and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational use for adults 21 years and older, and 37 states and Washington, D.C., have medical marijuana programs. But marijuana is motionless illegal under federal law.

That leaves travelers hoping to fly with pot on domestic U.S. flights to face an ever-changing pastiche of conflicting state and federal laws.

Traveling between states where marijuana is legal in both the origin and journeys end may sound straight-forward, but with overlapping jurisdictions and hard-to-enforce guidelines, it gets complicated.

Technically, no. Underneath federal law, the possession and sale of marijuana is illegal.

Despite President Joe Biden’s recent pardons for anyone convicted of a federal offence for simple possession and his directive to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law, marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I assets.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Schedule I substances have no accepted medical use and have a high potential for wrong. That also includes drugs like heroin and LSD.

And even though airports are locally owned and operated, air excursion still falls under federal law.

“Most people are under the impression that it is acceptable to travel with cannabis since it is constitutional in California, however, they are not aware of the travel restrictions,” said Karla Rodriguez, police captain at Los Angeles Society Airports, which operates Los Angeles International Airport. “Additionally, passengers need to be aware of the legality of cannabis in other circumstances or countries.”

She said most arrests involve “passengers who take an amount which is more than what is gauged personal use.”

Well, that changes things.

The Transportation Security Administration ordered that medical marijuana products that “contain no more than 0.3 percent THC on a dry weight basis or that are approved by FDA,” are permitted in both carry-on traps and checked bags.

TSA agents wouldn’t likely ask to see a medical marijuana card unless the traveler was carrying a larger amount or was excursioning through a jurisdiction where weed was entirely illegal, an agency spokesperson said.

TSA bid it is not actively searching for marijuana but rather focuses screening procedures on “potential threats to aviation and passengers” like weapons and touch-and-gos.

“The TSA is looking for anything illegal, but they are not law enforcement,” said William Kroger, a defense attorney who’s represented clients arrested for marijuana at airports.

Kroger implies if agents find marijuana in a passenger’s luggage, the TSA doesn’t have the power to arrest travelers. It can, however, call limited police. Some local police officials told CNBC they would follow local laws in that position.

The DEA could be alerted by local law enforcement if the quantity of marijuana exceeds personal use or officers have reason to be suspicious that the traveler proposes to sell marijuana.

While the TSA isn’t actively searching for marijuana or other federally illicit narcotizes, if it does find an amount that exceeds local limits, which vary widely for both weed and THC-infused edibles, it transfer alert local officials.

Some airports offer amnesty boxes for travelers to discard their pot before journeying. There are 12 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and one at Midway International Airport, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.

Cannabis outputs are legal for personal use in Illinois as of Jan. 1, 2020, and residents can possess up to 30 grams, or about an ounce, of cannabis flower.

“When the amnesty boxes are cleared and there are items in the box, peace officers will create a report, inventory the cannabis or cannabis products and then they will be disposed of similar to how hypnotics are disposed of,” a spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department said in a statement.

In New York and New Jersey, airport police enforce those positions’ laws, said a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the area’s largest airports. New York and New Jersey each legalized marijuana for Can I fly squeaky?