[ad_1]
The Los Angeles International Airport allows travelers to carry marijuana on the giant hub – news that has caused a surge of joy and surprise Twitter and Reddit Wednesday.
"It seems so long when I had to hide a bag in my underwear," said a Reddit user.
In reality, LAX's marijuana policy is not new. According to Los Angeles Airport Police spokeswoman Alicia Hernandez, travelers were allowed to carry up to 28.5 grams of marijuana and 8 grams of marijuana concentrated for personal use since January 2018.
"On the basis of our policy, we will not stop or confiscate marijuana," Hernandez said in a telephone interview with McClatchy.
But travelers hoping to carry marijuana through LAX should always know they have to go without agents from the US Transportation Security Administration at LAX, Hernandez said. At the federal level, marijuana is still very illegal.
Airplanes fly in federal airspace, as recognized by the LAX policy web page, which means that the federal law prohibiting marijuana possession is applicable.
"We are two different entities," said Hernandez. "TSA may deny you access to the checkpoint. The checkpoint is their jurisdiction.
So what will the TSA agents do at LAX?
"The TSA is focusing on terrorism and the threats to the safety of aircraft and their passengers," said TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers, adding that "the law-enforcement procedures of the TSA are federal, threats to aviation and passengers. "
When a TSA officer discovers marijuana on a traveler or in a luggage, agents are asked to return the violation to law enforcement, said Dankers. This is the policy, regardless of the country where the traveler is and regardless of where the traveler is – even if the states concerned have legalized marijuana.
"Law enforcement officials will determine whether to open a criminal investigation or what measures, if any, will be taken," said Dankers.
Hernandez said that if the law enforcement agency was the LAX Police Service, people would not face an arrest.
"We will not take any action against you for this marijuana," she said.
This does not mean that the detained passengers will fly, or that marijuana will be legal wherever the traveler lands.
City Councilman Mitch Englander has proposed marijuana "amnesty boxes" for airport travelers to abandon their grass before meeting the TSA checkpoints, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this year.
"You could at least be detained and searched and miss your flight," Englander said, according to the Times, even though marijuana is legal in the state.
The McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas has 20, where marijuana is banned, although it is legal in Nevada, according to the newspaper.
Other law enforcement agencies in California have said that air transport with marijuana remains a gray area, reports CNBC.
"We really can not do anything," Sgt said. Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, who has jurisdiction over Oakland International Airport, according to CNBC. "If the TSA says we do not want it [to get into the airport]we should intervene.
The situation is similar to that of John Wayne Airport in Orange County, USA Today.
"If the TSA calls us [about finding marijuana]We will go up and make sure it's in the legal amount. If so, we would just stay there while the passenger decides what to do, "said Lt. Mark Gonzales of the Orange County Sheriff's Department, USA Today. "The TSA may not want it to fly, but that does not mean it's illegal in California."
[ad_2]
Source link
