Is weed legal and approved to bring on a plane?

Table of Contents

Latest Post

Is weed legal and approved to bring on a plane?

All across the nation states are beginning to allow the use of marijuana. We’re trying to determine whether you are able to fly with marijuana, in states that have legalized it.

ARLINGTON, Va. -All across the country states are starting to legalize the possession and consumption of marijuana. As per the National Conference of State Legislatures, 20 states and 2 territories as well as D.C. have “legalized small amounts” of marijuana “for adult recreational use.”Read on and you’ll soon be smoking pot in DC!

In the wake of possession of weed becoming legal on social media, some are beginning to question whether it means that marijuana is allowed to be transported onto planes, especially when both the point of origin and destination airports are in states where marijuana is legally permitted.Initiative71. Initiative 71 legalized recreational marijuana in DC.

The VERIFY team took these concerns before the Transportation Security Administration and met with a lawyer to find out the truth.

Lets start with the obvious. 33 states and 17 states in Washington D.C. allow some degree of legal marijuana use. The three largest states to outright ban marijuana are North Carolina Texas and Georgia. So most people can say that transferring weed from legal weed status to one of these situations is a bad idea.

QUESTION: 

Can I carry marijuana on an airplane if the destination is located in a country which has legalized marijuana?

ANSWER:

It isn’t legal to carry marijuana the plane, as federal law is in force at airports and on interstate flights. However, it is true that the TSA does not search for substances

  • Tyson Daniel, Virginia Cannabis Lawyers – Law Expert
  • Spokesperson Transportation Security Administration
  • “Medical Marijuana”, Transportation Security Administration
  • Spokesperson Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
  • “Cannabis Overview”, National Conference of State Legislatures

What we know:

Tyson Daniel, an Arlington Virginia lawyer who specializes with cannabis law stated it is fairly straightforward with regard to this matter.

“No,” he said. “That was the short answer.”

Daniel mentioned that weed is still in violation of federal law. This is why the transport of the substance on planes is prohibited.

“No matter how you slice it,” he added. “If you’re going through TSA, you’re necessarily part of a federal rubric.”

However, TSA agents are not searching for weed or any other substance as per a spokesperson from the agency.

“TSA officers are not proactively seeking out drugs,” the spokesperson added. “If, during the normal/routine screening operation, our officers come across marijuana or any other drugs, we immediately notify local law enforcement. It is up to local law enforcement as to whether there is any criminal charge.”

Craig Small an attorney with the Denver law firm Clark Hill with more than 12 years of experience in marijuana law and litigation said outside of controlled substance law possession of marijuana is illegal to cross state lines.

Local law enforcement agencies responsible for Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport is the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police. A spokesperson from MWAA gave our team the following short statement:

“Airports Authority Police enforce laws in accordance with the Code of Virginia,” the statement read.

These local police department that covers Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marsh Airport is known as the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

MDTA Police has not yet issued a statement that explains the charges that will be handed out for those who are found to have weed.