Can You Travel On A Plane With Medical Marijuana?
EACH STATE HAS A DIFFERENT SET OF LAWS, WHICH CAN MAKE IT TRICKY FOR THOSE WHO MAY WANT TO TRAVEL WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA.
Cannabis may be recreationally legal in states like California and Colorado. But that doesn’t mean that all cannabis is legal all the time.
Just like smoking cigarettes indoors or driving with open alcohol, there are limits to what you can do with your legally purchased cannabis. This is especially true if you’re looking to travel with cannabis, and that includes medical marijuana.
For patients with medical conditions, traveling with their medicine can be a major source of anxiety. The thought of leaving your medicine behind—or worse, facing legal consequences for traveling with it—can be downright terrifying.
The question “Can you travel on a plane with medical marijuana?” doesn’t have a simple yes or no answer. Sadly, it’s a tangled-up mess of federal and state laws, TSA policies, and some notable risks.
This guide covers everything you need to know about flying with medical marijuana and alternatives to consider when you can’t access your usual medicine.
The Federal Vs. State Law Conflict
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Traveling with medical marijuana is complicated due to the ongoing conflict between federal and state laws.
Federal Law Status
Here’s where things get tricky—cannabis remains illegal under federal law and is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance.
That means it’s illegal to use, buy, possess, tell, and transport across state lines—even if you have a medical card. Crossing state lines with cannabis, even medical marijuana, can be considered drug trafficking—a federal offense you definitely want to avoid.
State Laws
On the other hand, states have their own laws regarding the legality and use of medical cannabis:
38 states and Washington D.C. have legalized medical marijuana
24 states and D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana
Each state has different laws and regulations
This legal patchwork makes traveling with medical marijuana complicated. Even if cannabis is legal in your departure state, it may not be in your destination state, making it difficult for medical patients who rely on it.
TSA Policy On Cannabis
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You probably recognize TSA agents as the serious-looking officers in blue uniforms scanning luggage and making travelers nervous.
While the TSA could technically try to take law enforcement action against you if you’re caught with cannabis, the truth is that they’re much more concerned with weapons that threaten the safety of passengers.
If you’re caught with cannabis by a TSA agent, their typical policy is to contact local law enforcement officials. But if this happens to you in certain legal cannabis states like California, you won’t suffer any repercussions since cannabis is not illegal there.
Instead, you’ll likely be given options to either:
Throw it out
Store it
Hand it off to a friend who isn’t flying
But in other legal states, like Nevada, airport-wide bans on cannabis may be in place.
This is one reason why some cities like Denver and Las Vegas have installed “amnesty boxes” where travelers can safely dispose of their cannabis without fear of persecution, rather than frantically flushing it down the airport toilets or cramming it into garbage cans at the last minute.
What Happens If TSA Finds Your Medical Marijuana