TSA May Allow Medical Marijuana on Flights

In a surprising twist, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is considering relaxing their response towards people trying to travel with their medical marijuana.

So far, 20 states allow medical marijuana, and two allow it for recreational use. Normally, one would expect TSA to not give a fuck about state laws since the administration is governed by federal law, which views marijuana as a schedule 1 controlled substance, the most restricted category.

Despite this, whether or not the TSA wants to be a dick and turn over marijuana discovered is at their discretion, and seems to be on a case-by-case basis. So, if you get caught trying to board a plane with your medical marijuana, make sure to be as nice and cool as possible.

For example, if you live in the Bay Area and are a medical marijuana patient, you can fly with your herb from SFO, Oakland and other airports in the area. Typically, if TSA agents find a passenger who has drugs, they hand the matter over to local law enforcement, who decide what to do. In this case, the San Francisco police are allowing card-holding flyers to carry up to eight ounces.

If the SF police let the person keep their marijuana, the TSA can’t stop them from travelling. However, if a patient is flying to an area that does not allow medical marijuana, they could face prosecution at their destination. Still,  for patients who need to have access to their medication, this will allow them to travel with one less worry.

Personally, I think it’s great that the TSA is paying less attention to harassing people who are trying to travel with their medication. On a grand scale, it should free them up to pursue more serious security risks, like people trying to bring weapons or other nonsense on planes.

However, even if the TSA isn’t enforcing it very often, it’s probably not a good idea to try to bring weed on a plane if you live in an area that doesn’t explicitly allow it. You just can’t trust TSA to be consistent yet. If it were me, bringing marijuana on a plane would still be an absolute last resort.