Traveling With CBD: Can You Bring CBD Oil On A Plane?
Traveling with CBD oil seems like a natural choice, given how this supplement relaxes and soothes our aches and pains.
CBD is a wonderful addition to your daily supplements, and it’s only natural that you’ll want to take it with you on trips and vacations. Unfortunately, America’s airports and airplanes are not somewhere you want to carry CBD.
We can add it to our food, put it in our tea, drop it into water bottles, and place it under our tongues. CBD is a super-supplement providing many benefits for travelers including reducing inflammation and symptoms of anxiety. While CBD can be shipped across state lines, and can be sold legally, it still cannot be brought onto airplanes per TSA guidelines.
TSA guidelines are clear: Don’t bring CBD oil on a plane
The following is quoted from the TSA’s website:
Possession of marijuana and cannabis infused products, such as Cannabidiol (CBD) oil, is illegal under federal law.
Essentially, the rule includes all medical marijuana, and hemp-based supplements alike including CBD. The TSA makes no distinction between hemp and marijuana. The TSA is also exempt from state laws, as they operate under federal law. Which means that even if your products are totally legal where you live, you still cannot bring them onto the airplane.
The TSA says they don’t necessarily check for illegal substances:
TSA’s screening procedures are focused on security and are designed to detect potential threats to aviation and passengers. Accordingly, TSA security officers do not search for marijuana or other illegal drugs.
At the same time, they note that if they do discover what they consider an illegal substance, they’ll act accordingly and alert law enforcement officers.
Long story short, do not try to get on an airplane with cannabis or hemp products, because even if you get past security screenings, there are always customs checkpoints (on international flights) and other agencies (such as the DEA) that are constantly at the airport.
John Bussman, a California criminal defense attorney, sounded a note of caution in an essay for Kindland.
“The moral of the story is that the airport is a dangerous place to possess drugs,” he wrote. “The government is watching, and it’s sifting through your stuff.”
Alternatives to bringing CBD oil on a plane
Fortunately, there are a couple alternatives to flying with CBD.
For one, you could simply take a CBD tincture, capsule, gummy or other edible prior to your flight. This would be a great alternative, assuming that you don’t have a 2+ hour wait prior to your flight. This way, you can get the calming effect of the CBD prior to flying, helping you achieve that all-important mid-flight nap.
Second, you can do your due diligence and research good shops around the area that sell quality CBD tinctures. Lastly, if you already have quality CBD products at home, you can simply mail it ahead of time to your destination.
Changing attitudes could make it easier to travel with CBD in the future
We know it’s a bummer that we can’t even take CBD products with us on flights. But all we can do, for now, is be patient.
American culture has already started to embrace hemp products and culture. A couple years ago, if one wanted to read about these topics, you would either read High Times or Vice. Now you there are numerous online publications that produce quality and trustworthy content about these formerly taboo topics (like us here at Ministry of Hemp). You can even find cannabis-themed books and shows on Amazon or Netflix and hemp publications and foods at Whole Foods.
We are now living in a world in which hemp is finally reaching the point of normalcy. Increasingly, these products are a part of thousands of people’s everyday lives.
So, with that being said, be responsible. Don’t bring anything illegal or contraband on flights, enjoy yourselves responsibly, and share the love of hemp, cannabis, & CBD with other people!
By Ellijah Pickering. Originally published at Ministry of Hemp.
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