BY RUTH HILL R.N.
You are planning to travel on various airlines at Palm Springs Airport to places across America, what do you do with your medical marijuana (MM)? Here are important things you need to safeguard yourself from being arrested. If you have recreational marijuana (RM), leave it at home. You can purchase what you need when you get to the state you are traveling to. MM can be concealed in your carry-on bags. If you plan to do this, take your original Recommendation Form.
Federal law trumps State law when traveling across state lines, being in airports, or on an airplane. Some airports like NV and AZ and IL are offering amnesty bins to dispose of your marijuana. The bins are bolted to the concrete and can only allow disposal not retrieval from the bin and there is a contractor who disposes of the contents. Not many people are using them lately, which may mean people are finding more ways to successfully conceal their products.
Wyoming, Idaho, Nebraska, Indiana and South Carolina are the only States left where there is no program for THC. Before traveling check with the website disa.com/marijuana-legality-by-state to determine the state rules.
Research ahead of your trip where you can purchase your needed product. You can also if you dare, cross state lines to purchase MM from a state that is adjacent to a state that you are traveling to. ID, IN, and UT are bordered on three sides by states that legalize MM. Indiana approved CBD for children with epilepsy in 2017 but confiscated over 3000 CBD products in the first few months.
Regulations are fuzzy due to poor legislation in the State of LA. MM was legalized in 2015 but the law stated the physician had to write how much you are taking and how often just like a regular prescription would for any other drug. But the federal government labels marijuana a Schedule I drug which physicians are prohibited from prescribing. In 2016 a new bill was passed to say the physician recommends MM, but the bill did not legalize cultivation or distribution. This means in the State of LA there is no access to acquire MM proving again the states are not learning from each other when passing these laws. Another argument for federal reclassification.
There are three states set to have legalization of marijuana on the ballot in 2018, MI, UT, VI, and OK, (approval rating is 27-62% depending on the measure, 75%, and 94% respectively). VT legalized MM through legislation in January 2018. NJ passed for adult recreational. Fifty-nine percent approve of MM in New Jersey.
Health Montgomery, the airport spokesman for Denver International Airport in 2015, stated that the T.S.A. stopped just 29 out of 54 million passengers who went through the airport. As long as the amount was legal for personal possession in CO, the local police simply asked the flier to dispose of it, either by throwing it in the trash or taking it home.
At the Jacksonville International Airport in MS, Michael D. Stewart, in 2016 stated that 11 out of 2.8 million passengers who were screened had MM. They were arrested and given a notice to appear in court. T.S.A. is more interested in screening for guns, explosives or anything that will blow up an airplane. The dogs are trained to sniff for explosives, not MM unless they are in a border town or on international flights looking for smuggling drugs. Even if they find it in the luggage they are not looking for personal use.
Both of these T.S.A. spokesmen stated their views when working under the Obama Administration. Be discrete when traveling with MM. The Biden Administration is very lack in prosecuting crimes against marijuana.
It is still important to research the state laws where you are traveling. CA has the longest history of legalizing MM. Other states are going through growing pains. It is more important than ever to educate our legislators on the benefits of MM in this election year.
Learn Cannabis Education, Dosing Without the High on the 1st Saturday of the Month from 11 AM to 1 PM at the Vault Dispensary Lounge. Call 760-866-9660 or send comments to cannaangel16@gmail.com
