Traveling with CBD and the TSA’s Guidelines

 By op-ed blogger Quinton Charles

What’s Happening?

You have probably heard the story of the woman who was arrested back in April at Disney World for having CBD oil in her purse at the park. Wait, we thought CBD was fully federally legal. Why did this happen? Well, “under Florida’s medical marijuana law, patients using CBD oil with over .3 percent or higher THC must be listed in the state’s medical marijuana registry.” The woman, arrested with her CBD oil, was tested by officials and found to have traces of marijuana in it, making it seem illegal. She has since been released and is suing for illegal detention. When asked, experts said those testing kits are frequently inaccurate, but the woman spent 12 hours in jail and was charged with possession of hashish.

What Does It Mean?

You have to be asking yourself, am I at risk? It is important to protect yourself. If the product you’re carrying with you contain less than 0.3% THC and contains CBD derived from hemp plants, then it is perfectly legal to carry it in any state.” It is also important to make sure that you have documentation on you when traveling that verifies your CBD is from a hemp plant, rather than marijuana, and has less than .3% THC.  We always recommend that you are able to access lab test results for any products taken. In most cases, you can now find those in a QR code right on the bottle. If not, they can be found on the manufacturer’s websites or by contacting the company that you purchased them from. At Green Wellness Life, we have all of our product lab test results available upon request.

Are There New Regulations?

As with most things, there are new regulations and there are some things that have not changed.  As per the TSA’s website, “Possession of marijuana and certain cannabis-infused products, including marijuana-based cannabidiol (CBD) oil, remain illegal under federal law. TSA officers are required to report any suspected violations of law, including possession of marijuana and certain cannabis-infused products. Products/medications that contain hemp-derived CBD are approved by the TSA and are fully federally legal as long as they were produced within the regulations defined by the law under the Agriculture Improvement Act 2018. 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, but if any illegal substance is discovered during security screening, TSA will refer the matter to a law enforcement officer.”

Let’s Unpack That.

That’s a lot of info to take in. Let’s look at it closely. The statement, “violations of law, including possession of marijuana and certain cannabis-infused products,” refers to those marijuana-based CBD products I mentioned in my last blog with too high a THC content. The TSA website later mentions “ legal… within the regulations defined by the law under the Agriculture Improvement Act 2018.” What this is saying is that CBD that is in-line with the Federal 2018 Farm Bill is fully legal to travel with. Also, keep in mind that TSA, while not searching for CBD or marijuana, will inspect and possibly alert law enforcement if they find anything derived from cannabis and deem it an illegal substance.

What Can I Travel With?

Anything that is FDA approved and is hemp derived (at the time of this writing – this is exactly one product – the pharmaceutical Epidiolex, an anti-seizure drug) is safe to travel with. However, since most CBD products are not FDA regulated, they do not fall into this category. So what about those products that do not fall into the category of FDA regulated? It is best to travel with the product labels and details so that you can prove their CBD and THC content. Here is a copy from the TSA website regarding their policy.  This document along with the product labels and/or lab results should clarify what you are carrying and that it is a legal product.

My Advice:

If you’re traveling with CBD this summer, make sure that it’s clearly labeled and that you have the test detail to back it up.  While it’s highly unlikely that you’ll have any issues, knowing the law and having documentation is always a best practice. Like your mom always says – better safe than sorry!