Can you bring marijuana edibles, CBD products in your luggage?

(NEXSTAR) – It’s already been a busy summer of travel – Transportation Security Administration (TSA) REPORTS as of early June, seven of the agency’s 10 busiest travel days have occurred in 2024 — so there’s a good chance you’ll soon find yourself going through airport security.

There are many things that you will be allowed to bring through a TSA checkpoint. Sure, you might have to quickly remove the water you forgot to empty from the bottle and put your shampoo in one of those little travel containers, but you shouldn’t have any other problems.

When it comes to traveling with marijuana, no matter what form it’s in, it’s a little trickier.

Over the past two years, more and more states have legalized the recreational and medical use of marijuana. In 2023, Ohio became the 24th state to do so. Kentucky also legalized medical marijuana last year, but patients will have to wait until next year for the program to officially launch.

Federal authorities also appear poised to reschedule marijuana as a less dangerous drug in the U.S. While that doesn’t mean it will be legalized nationwide right away, it could be a step in that direction.

Until then, however, bringing marijuana in your carry-on can delay you longer than a sudden thunderstorm directly above the airport.

Can you bring food or CBD products through TSA?

It depends. The TSA has some guidelines for what cannabis products you can have in your checked bag or carry-on: those with no more than 0.3% THC on a dry weight basis and those approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Currently, the FDA has approved only four such products: Epidiolex, a cannabidiol (or CBD); and three synthetic cannabis-related drug products: Marinol and Syndros, both considered dronabinol, and Cesamet, a nabilone, which can be used to treat nausea and vomiting caused by cancer drugs.

So if your food or CBD products meet these requirements, you are allowed to fly with them.

These rules apply regardless of which airport – and which country – you are flying to or from.

What if I have other marijuana products?

You may or may not be stopped by a TSA agent. Ultimately, those agents are “focused on detecting security threats and protecting the nation’s transportation system,” a TSA spokesperson tells Nexstar.

“If during the security screening process, an item is identified as a potential security threat, additional screening will occur,” the spokesperson added. “If during this follow-up inspection a TSA officer discovers anything that violates local, state or federal law, TSA refers the matter to the appropriate law enforcement agency. TSA remains focused on meeting our transportation security priorities.”

A TSA spokesperson previously told Nexstar that officers do not search for marijuana or any other illegal drug, but are required to report it if they find it during the screening process. Local law enforcement will then decide what steps, if any, will be taken.

“TSA has gone out of its way to say its focus is not on marijuana,” Larry Mishkin, an Illinois attorney at Hoban Law Group, which provides legal services to individuals in the marijuana industry, previously told the Washington Post. marijuana.

What if marijuana is legal in the state I’m traveling to or from?

You will be able to bring in marijuana products that adhere to the TSA rules described above, but you may still be required to remove your items before going through the security checkpoint.

Some airports, like O’Hare in Chicago, have amnesty boxes that allow travelers to drop off weed before security. Los Angeles International warns passengers that while its airport police division does not have “jurisdiction to arrest individuals if they are in compliance” with California’s marijuana law, “TSA checkpoints are under federal jurisdiction.”

Additionally, due to TSA regulations regarding marijuana, your airline likely does not allow such products on their planes. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, for example, explicitly say passengers are not allowed to carry marijuana on their flights, with the latter noting that “anyone who travels with or carries marijuana on American flights does so at their own risk his”.