TSA Now Allows Some CBD Products, Medications Derived From Marijuana to Fly
It wasn't exactly a deep inhale, but the Transportation Security Administration puffed up its rules for passengers flying with marijuana-derived substances over the holiday weekend, mellowing bans on medicines made with cannabidiols, or CBDs, and hemp-related products.
Before the change, anything made with marijuana or hemp was banned from passengers' bags. Under the new rules, marijuana and some cannabis-infused goods are still verboten, but FDA-approved medications and those made with hemp-derived CBD are OK — as long as they're made under the guidelines in the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, which legalized industrial hemp in December. The TSA, it seems, have finally caught up with the federal laws.
The TSA told NBC News the move was prompted by the uncertainty that plagued patients who use Epidiolex, a CBD medication created for children who have seizures.
But the TSA pointedly said you can't expect to light up on your Flight 420 red-eye to California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport (ACV) — you can still go to jail for trying to fly with anything with THC.
"TSA's screening procedures are focused on security and are designed to detect potential threats to aviation and passengers," the agency's website reads. "Accordingly, TSA security officers do not search for marijuana or other illegal drugs, but if any illegal substance is discovered during security screening, TSA will refer the matter to a law enforcement officer."
Though states have been loosening rules against marijuana in recent years, the federal government still considers it an illegal drug, and passengers have been arrested for trying to fly with it even between states that have legalized marijuana.
