You see them every time you visit the airport: the men and women sporting the bright, royal blue dress shirts and black pants. They are the men and women of the Transportation Security Administration, the agency tasked with ensuring safety in the skies. If you use medical cannabis, do you know the TSA’s position on traveling with your medicine? You should.
The TSA is known to be very strict about what passengers carry on to aircraft. You know the drill if you have ever traveled by air. First, you need to present a photo ID to prove you are who you claim to be. Then it is off to the inspection.
You take off your shoes and belt. You place them, along with all the contents of your pockets. into a plastic tray. That tray goes through an X-ray machine along with your luggage while you pass through a body scanner. It is all quite Orwellian. What if, at any point in the process, you were found carrying medical cannabis? You could be in trouble.
Yes, But With Special Instructions
If you visit the TSA website to inquire whether or not you can travel with medical cannabis, you’ll find an interesting answer. For both carry-on and checked bags, the website literally says “Yes (Special Instructions)”. But what does that mean?
It means you can carry some forms of medical cannabis in both your carry-on and checked baggage. But before you get too excited, understand that the TSA is not giving you blanket permission to travel with any medicines containing THC.
A Really Big Difference
A medical cannabis product is any product derived from cannabis and used medicinally. To most medical cannabis patients, this means a product with THC. Therein lies the rub. Some medical cannabis products do not have THC. Instead, their medicinal benefits are derived from CBD.
The owners of the Beehive Farmacy in Brigham City, Utah, explain that the products on their shelves would qualify as marijuana because they contain more than 0.3% THC by volume. They are not alone. Medical cannabis pharmacies throughout the state of Utah sell THC-infused and marijuana-derived products. They also sell marijuana plant material.
On the other hand, Brigham City residents could go to virtually any traditional pharmacy, convenience store, or health food store and find cannabis products with absolutely no THC. Those products are infused with CBD or derived from hemp.
There is a big difference. THC is illegal under federal law. CBD is not. The TSA understands this distinction and applies it in their inspections.
You Can Carry CBD on a Plane
The law says you can carry CBD products in your carry-on bags and checked luggage. So maybe you use CBD oil to relieve joint pain. As long as it meets the requirements for package size, you are good to go. But if you’re using a THC ointment to relieve your pain, that’s not allowed.
A THC ointment meets or exceeds the legal threshold for marijuana. And as long as marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, you cannot take it on a plane with you – either in your checked bags or carry-ons.
The TSA website says that individual agents are given final decision-making authority over whether to allow a medical cannabis product on a plane. I am fairly confident agents continue being strict when questionable products meet the legal threshold for marijuana. Likewise, I would expect more leeway for medical cannabis products containing CBD only.
One way or another, now you know. The TSA only allows non-THC medicines on board commercial aircraft.