You need to familiarize yourself with several important things as you prepare to travel by air. For instance, you need to know which items you are allowed to bring on the plane and which ones are prohibited. One of the common questions that travelers ask is: Can you bring edibles on a plane? This article answers this and other related concerns.
What Are Edibles?
Edibles are food items made with marijuana. While smoking is the most common way of ingesting marijuana, some food processors have devised ways to infuse their food products with marijuana, especially in countries and states where marijuana has been legalized. For example, brownies have become a common way of consuming the drug.
Therefore, brownies fall can be categorized as edibles. Nevertheless, almost any type of food can be infused with the drug and eaten. Some cooking oil refineries are also infusing their products with marijuana. There’s also marijuana-infused butter that can be spread on prepared food like bread and cakes.
Other types of edibles include cookies, confectionery products like gummies and chocolate bars, drinks, and food supplements. Most of these food items are quite discreet. It’s hard for ordinary people to suspect that the products have been infused with marijuana.
Edibles are mainly common in the United States, especially in states like California, Michigan, New Jersey, and others, where the use of recreational marijuana by adults and medical marijuana has been legalized. However, edibles are not allowed on planes in the United States and many other parts of the world.
Can You Bring Edibles on a Plane?
The short answer is no. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has prohibited the use of any marijuana products on an airplane. The administration insists that all marijuana-infused products are illegal under federal law. Therefore, you shouldn’t bring edibles or any other cannabis-infused product on a plane.
This means that you have to choose your cannabidiol or CBD products when you are preparing to travel by air because TSA has banned some of them. Moreover, it doesn’t clarify which CBD products are prohibited. Also, there are rules that you have to follow when you want to bring medical marijuana products on the plane.
In short, you aren’t supposed to bring any product with cannabis on the plane without the approval of the TSA. What’s more, there’s so much vagueness surrounding this decree, making it even more difficult for you to decide which products to carry with you when traveling by air. So, you need to do thorough research on which marijuana-infused products are illegal before your travel date to avoid problems with airport security.
It pays to check with your preferred airline before the travel date and seek clarification from them. They’ll explain to you which products you aren’t allowed to carry with you and which ones you can carry. This also allows you to ask any other related questions that you may have, including the use of medical marijuana on the plane.
If you are traveling abroad, you’ll have a lot of trouble bringing marijuana-infused products on the plane because it’s generally illegal to carry cannabis products to another country. You also need to understand that some airlines do not allow travelers to bring any type of food or drink from outside.
What Happens If You’re Caught Flying with Edibles?
Although most airlines don’t search their passengers for cannabis, you’ll be in trouble if you are caught with cannabis or any marijuana-infused products on the plane. According to TSA, when an airline or airport security officer finds edibles or any other product containing cannabis on the plane they must notify law enforcement immediately. The law enforcement officers will then assess the situation and decide the next cause of action.
Most airlines in America issue their passengers with warnings about bringing edibles and other cannabis-infused products to their flights because if they do, they’ll be held personally responsible. Although it’s legal to use cannabis for recreation and medical reasons in some states, airlines still have to follow federal law. So, if you get caught with edibles on the plane, the airplane will hand you over to law enforcement for further actions to be taken against you.
However, there’s a lot of ambiguity about what happens when you bring edibles on the plane because it’s up to the law enforcement officers to decide what happens next. The law doesn’t provide clear guidelines for punishing passengers who bring cannabis on their flights. Nevertheless, some passengers have been jailed for carrying or consuming marijuana and marijuana-infused food products on the plane.
You can also be fined or given a travel ban for carrying edibles and other marijuana products on their flights. Another common punishment for this offense is to miss your flight. Unfortunately, most airlines won’t give you a refund when you miss your flight for bringing edibles on the plane.
Even if you manage to carry your marijuana-infused products with you to your destination, you’re still at risk of getting arrested by law enforcement officers, especially if you are traveling to a country or state where cannabis is illegal. Some countries have very harsh punishments for possessing or consuming cannabis. So, be very careful when packaging your edibles for your next international flight.
It’s good to familiarize yourself with the laws of the state or country you plan to visit before you try to sneak your edibles in. After all, ignorance is no defense. You are expected to be well-informed about the laws of the land before you arrive.
How to Travel with Medical Marijuana
Sadly, you aren’t allowed to board a plane with your medical marijuana products because they’re categorized as Schedule I controlled substances.
So, you might find yourself in trouble with the federal law if you bring marijuana-infused products on the plane, even if they’re for medical purposes. Being a Schedule I controlled substance means that anyone transporting marijuana or its related products across state lines commits a federal crime and should be charged with drug trafficking. This offense attracts a jail term of five years or a fine of not less than $250,000 for a first offender.
Some international punishments for the possession of marijuana or its related products can be extremely harsh, with some even attracting life sentences or even execution. So, if you want to carry your medical marijuana to your flight, you must have medical proof. According to TSA, marijuana and certain marijuana-infused products, including CBD oils, are illegal under federal law except for products that have been approved by FDA and those with less than 0.3 percent THC on a dry weight basis.
So, if you must carry your medical marijuana with you to your flight, carry your medical marijuana card as proof. A doctor’s prescription is also important because it’ll help you make your case. Patients with the necessary supporting documents can enjoy medical cannabis reciprocity, even when flying to different states.
It’s also important to review the marijuana guidelines provided by your airline before booking a flight to see if they allow medical marijuana. Many American airlines have developed policies that describe who should bring medical marijuana on the plane. You also need to understand what the law says about the use of medical marijuana in the state or country you’re traveling to.
Even in medical situations, the amount of marijuana allowed differs from one state to another. For example, in Hawaii, visitors with medical marijuana cards are allowed to buy up to four ounces of cannabis per 15-day period from authorized dispensaries. In Arizona, visitors can’t buy marijuana from authorized dispensaries, although they’re allowed to consume it. Understanding these regulations before you travel will help you to stay out of trouble.
