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The Legal Gray Zone of Marijuana at Airports
- advertising 7y agoA person I know routinely flies with ~1 lbs of marijuana in his checked luggage as well as edibles and vape products, all just for personal use. He flies internationally to and from the States and no one ever says anything to him. Even flying into other countries where there’s no rec marijuana. It’s insane.
- namanyayg 7y agoThat's crazy. How does the risk:reward make any sense? Wouldn't he get totally and completely destroyed by legal systems when caught?
- krustyburger 7y agoThis reminds me of Paul McCartney’s famous stint in Japanese jail for bringing cannabis into the country. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paul-mccartney-is-released-from-a-tokyo-jail-and-deported-from-japan https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paul-mccartney-i...
- siruncledrew 7y ago1 lbs for personal use?? How long is this person traveling for, because even an everyday smoker would have a hard time using a whole pound of weed in addition to vapes and edibles on a trip. That’s 454 grams of weed, they would need to be getting high like 24/7.
- MisterTea 7y agoI know some serious smokers who will burn an ounce in three days. I don't know how or why they'd want to smoke that much weed but they do. And I smoke every day, though not heavily. Just a few bowls after work.
- edaemon 7y agoEven at that rate it would take 48 days to consume a pound.
- KingMachiavelli 7y agoAt that level of consumption it would make a lot more sense to step up to concentrates both logistically (higher THC/volume and has less odor) and better for his lungs.
- inscionent 7y ago> they would need to be getting high like 24/7 He said personal use...
- permatech 7y agoIs your friend Snoop Dog or Willy Nelson? Your friend should be very careful if he ever flies to Japan. Insane indeed!
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y agoThis is an incredibly bad idea. What countries is he flying to? In much of Asia a pound of dope would suffice for the death penalty.
- djsumdog 7y agoI remember my entry card to Singapore contained something in big letters saying drug trafficking can result in death.
- hnarn 7y agoCorrect. The entry card you fill out on the plane literally has "DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS UNDER SINGAPORE LAW" in red letters on the back. Easily verified by a web search.[1] Flying in with a pound of Marijuana to any country where it isn't legal is an incredibly bad idea, in parts of the world it may be suicidal. [1]: https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fassets3.thrillist.com%2Fv1%2Fimage%2F1462671%2Fsize%2Ftmg-article_default_mobile%3Bjpeg_quality%3D20.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fassets3.thr...
- jeena 7y agoThat reminds me of this guy: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512815/Briton-jailed-years-Dubai-customs-cannabis-weighing-grain-sugar-shoe.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512815/Briton-jaile... He went to jail for four years because they found 0.003g on the bottom of his shoe in Dubai.
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y agoI hope they put him in the same cell as the (possibly apocryphal) guy who was jailed for four years for three poppy seeds from a bagel. https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/43648/did-dubai-sentence-someone-to-four-years-in-jail-for-possession-of-three-poppy-s https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/43648/did-dubai...
- DonHopkins 7y agoI'll bet he's not black.
- idlerig 7y agoThe truth is that there is no gray zone. Marijuana, until otherwise classified by the FDA, is illegal. Many states have decriminalized it, meaning that they have effectively nullified the federal regulations-- though not technically the legislation, as none [that I'm aware of] exists. Like immigration, the federal government chooses to enforce (under Trump) or ignore (under Obama) sections of federal legislation and regulation as they see fit. I'd personally feel much more comfortable if everyone was subject to the same laws, as selective enforcement can quickly lead to corruption where one group is punished, while the other is ignored.
- wrs 7y agoIf you meant “not technically through legislation”, that’s not correct. Washington, for example, legalized recreational marijuana through an initiative and legislation [1] that created a licensing and taxation system (implemented by the existing Liquor Control Board). Several states have had medical marijuana legislation for years. [1] http://mrsc.org/Home/Explore-Topics/Legal/Regulation/Marijuana-Regulation-in-Washington-State.aspx http://mrsc.org/Home/Explore-Topics/Legal/Regulation/Marijua...
- mises 7y agoUnder the supremacy clause, federal law trumps that of states. States can't nullify federal law, either; there was an issue with that, too. I don't know that I agree with the precedent on this absolutely, and it might be less of a problem to start with if the feds passed very few stupid laws, but that's how it stands today. By your logic, a state can override the civil rights act of 1964.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago> States can't nullify federal law, In practice they can and do until they get smacked down by a court, which typically takes many years.
- javagram 7y ago
- joncrane 7y agoWhile the article is interesting, I don't see anything "baffling" about it. All the rules seem internally consistent to me.
- Simulacra 7y agoI just put the vape oil cartridges in my luggage and check it. I think that is the safest.
- uxp100 7y agoI do this too, but I think some people say carry-on is safer. Since they believe there is no risk facing any harsher punishment than having to throw it away, having it in carry is better because it won't mean your checked bag gets diverted or held back for additional searches that results in it not making your flight.
- jjulius 7y agoSo I fly with it regularly (live in CA, visit family in WA and ATL, etc.), and I always put it in my carry-on. I've done this for maybe 30 or so flights, and have only had my bag searched twice. The first time, TSA pulled some edibles out, looked the bag over, then kept digging for the water bottle I'd forgot I left in my bag. The second time (vape pen and a couple of joints), same thing, but they were searching for a jar of jam that my wife put in the bag. Each time, they returned the cannabis products to my bag without hesitation. That's so stereotypically TSA for you - water and marionberry jam are hazards, but you can have that Schedule 1 controlled substance. My thought process with it being in my carry-on is that I don't have to worry about the "what ifs" in my bag getting pulled for inspection when I'm not around, and I do my research to see what local PD has said about it at each airport before I fly out of them. If they're largely "cool" with it, I'd rather be there when someone finds it so that I can say, "Look, my bad, let's toss it out, yeah?". I also make sure that if I'm traveling to where it's not legal (ie Atlanta), I only bring enough for me to use up during the duration of my trip. I'm sure it'd be "fine" for me to travel with it through TSA in ATL since they're not actively looking for it, but the risk of local PD getting involved is just not worth the reward when it's just a five hour flight until I can toke up in the comfort of my own home.
- markbnj 7y agoI'm curious as to what they would even do with an unlabeled cartridge? It could just be nicotine e-juice. I think they'd have to either object to the form of the object (no vape cartridges allowed, for example), or actually crack it open and test it for THC content. Seems like they'd be unlikely to bother with that for such a low level possession offense.
- gadders 7y agoSlightly Offtopic: There was a section on a British news program this morning (Today on Radio 4) that said that UK subjects that invest in US Cannabis companies (even ones that are legal in their states) could be prosecuted in the UK under the Proceeds of Crime act. This applies even if the companies were held in a fund. I think there are lots of grey areas when it comes to legal Marijuana.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- vonseel 7y agoI wish they would just go ahead and legalize recreational use nationwide. As someone who binge drank a lot from ~16yo to 22yo, I can't imagine what kind of lunacy causes someone to think alcohol is safer or more acceptable than marijuana use. Maybe the people behind propaganda didn't like how marijuana can make people less social and more eccentric, but since drinking alcohol is seen as a way of socializing and camaraderie, it's acceptable? The older I get the less I like alcohol. Hangovers suck. I was (un)lucky enough to have a bad lifetime case of acid reflux/GERD which is exacerbated by alcohol, so between that and not liking the hangovers, I generally can't imagine being an alcoholic. But alcohol ruins a lot of lives. I don't know how many lives marijuana ruins, except maybe out of laziness or lack of motivation.
- andrei_says_ 7y agoNo one who has data thinks it’s safer and I don’t think anyone on the political level really cares that much. Mj prohibition is ultimately racially and politically motivated and entangled with political image as well as a lot of funding for enforcement and incarceration. Most likely we will move beyond its insanity but it’ll take time.
- repsilat 7y ago> Mj prohibition is ultimately racially and politically motivated On the other side of the equation, there's also the (much more charitable) point that we tried banning alcohol and it didn't work. It has a substantially larger cultural purchase, so banning it is naturally more expensive -- both in terms of the cost of enforcement and the number of upset people whose habits you've made illegal. Marijuana might become impossible to ban if its use keeps climbing, but it certainly wasn't in the 20th century.
- Gibbon1 7y agoMy old dad said they banned marijuana after prohibition to give the prohibition enforcement agents something to do.
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- vonseel 7y agoBut casinos prohibit all forms of marijuana, including vaping and edibles. What do casinos have against edibles? Do they also ban e-cig vaping? This seems like an odd rule for places where people regularly do cocaine.
- ativzzz 7y agoIt says it right afterwards because they have federal gambling licenses, they don't want federally illegal substances. > regularly do cocaine. Illegally doing drugs is different and has been done in Vegas for just about forever, but they don't want federally illegal substances out in the open. I'm sure they would confiscate your coke if they found it too.
- Rebelgecko 7y ago>because they have federal gambling licenses, they don't want federally illegal substances. I wonder if that is true for Native American casinos
- toomanybeersies 7y agoApart from what the other reply said, Casinos make their money selling drinks.
- mikestew 7y agoI don't recall having ever purchased an alcoholic beverage while at a gaming table, despite having consumed many. Want to guess why that is, and where casinos really make their money?
- toomanybeersies 7y agoSorry, to clarify, I meant they make money selling alcohol, so they don't want people using alternatives they they aren't selling (cocaine doesn't count, because it tends to make people drink like a fish and also blow all their cash gambling). Obviously their main profit centre is gambling.
- BurningFrog 7y agoMy friend who runs a bomb sniffing dog for the TSA ("We don't find a lot of bombs, no") says that it's always illegal to bring pot on a flight. Even if the flight is between two cities where pot is 100% legal, it can always be diverted, and you might end up landing in Kansas City.
- coin 7y agoYes but the TSA isn’t in the business of enforcing local laws
- gumby 7y agoThey're happy to alert the cops for things they think are illegal, whether they are or not. Instead they could look for dangerous things in your carry ons, but that's boring.
- tantalor 7y agoThat's specious reasoning. By the same argument, you might end up landing in Riyadh where alcohol is illegal, therefore alcohol is illegal on planes.
- cbm-vic-20 7y agoIf a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco (both in legal California, over one hundred miles from any land that is not California) is diverted to Kansas City, we've got bigger problems than someone carrying a few joints in their luggage.
- bdamm 7y agoThe aircraft could end up landing at one of several Air Force bases along the way, where it definitely is illegal. But I cannot imagine the legal process whereby someone is actually charged for possession because their flight had an emergency landing still within the state of California. The court would have to be a military court, and I don't know the process by which a civilian would end up tried in a court that has jurisdiction over an AF base. The court matters because the DA and prosecutor decide who to charge.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- malandrew 7y agoNational Parks and National Forests are another place you cannot possess even if that park/forest is in a state where it is legal. Park rangers are federal police and the land falls under federal jurisdiction.
- KingMachiavelli 7y agoTrue. And most rec. states (at least CO) still ban the use of cannabis in their state parks but anyone in Boulder can tell you that there one of the few 'public' places you can easily consume cannabis even if it's technically 'more' illegal (federal vs local regulation).
- reaperducer 7y agoIt's not exactly a gray zone everywhere. I was at LAS last week, and there are green trash bins at all the entrances so that people can dispose of their pot before they enter the airport.
- defterGoose 7y agoSounds like a goldmine!