In this article we will tell you if it is possible to transport cannabis on the plane, the regulations, the laws and everything you need to know to be safe. Read the whole article to find out if it is possible to transport light cannabis by plane, specifically we will address these topics:
- Legal cannabis, what are we talking about?
- Cannabis light in Italy
- Cannabis light abroad
- What about medical cannabis?
Vaping legal marijuana before going to bed is a habit dear to many smokers. There are those who do it to relax and sleep better and those who do it to soothe the symptoms of muscular or neurological pathologies, but in both cases consuming light marijuana could become a problem if you are planning a plane trip. Everyone knows that controls are increasingly stringent at airports and that possession of cannabis is punished by Italian law, but what happens with legal weed?
Smoking legal weed isn't always a recreational habit. Often those who use light cannabis and CBD oil need cannabidiol for therapeutic reasons , to relax muscles or fight chronic pain and cannot give it up even for a few days.
There are those who only use light cannabis on planes because they are afraid of flying. What to do if you need your legal cannabis and want to transport it on a plane?
Legal cannabis: what exactly are we talking about?
In recent years, many countries have decriminalized the consumption and possession of cannabis, both for recreational and therapeutic purposes, making the legal sale of weed and derivatives possible. Italy legalized light cannabis in 2018, shortly after Switzerland, thanks to law 242/2016 . Light cannabis is cannabis sativa with THC levels lower than 0.2% and completely free of psychoactive effects, grown in Italy and included in the Official Catalog of the European Community, which contains 67 legal cannabis light genetics. Eight of these are Italian, and are the only ones that can be cultivated in the national territory, since law 242/2016 prohibits the importation and hybridization of light marijuana plants. CBD, on the other hand, is contained in variable quantities.
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Legal hemp is the novelty of recent years: according to Coldiretti the estimated turnover is over 40 million euros and in 5 years the land cultivated with hemp has gone from 400 in 2013 to almost 4,000 in 2018. It is very difficult to have the data for light cannabis only, as these crops fall within the industrial ones, which in the European Union reached 33,000 hectares in 2016 according to estimates by EIHA - European Industrial Hemp Association , which brings together several dozen growers and producers across Europe . Of this total, almost half is found in France, with 17,000 hectares, while in second position with a large gap we find Estonia with 3500 hectares. Italy, on the other hand, ranks fourth with 2300 hectares, behind the Netherlands.
Cannabis light in Italy
Since Italy legalized light cannabis, the substance can be sold , purchased and transported throughout the national territory. This means that if you take a plane to go from Milan to Palermo you will have no problem bringing light cannabis with you. The point of the issue is not the transport itself, but the law that you will have to deal with once you get off the plane .
In Italy, therefore, no problems flying. However, you should know that there are some precautions to take before going to the airport, useful to avoid problems before boarding and avoid wasting too much time for checks.
We have always traveled following three fundamental rules:
Possession of cannabis will certainly attract the attention of airport staff and drug-sniffing dogs, but moving around with small, sealed quantities of legal weed will allow you to get away with ease. Italian law considers light cannabis and CBD oil sold with their respective suitability certifications to be legal, so if you decide to bring them with you you are not breaking the law.
However, it is possible that the authorities decide to seize the product to ensure that it complies with the limits set by law; Carrying the sales receipt with you can be very useful in order not to waste too much time. Looking at the intact packaging and the sales receipt, the airport authorities will not be able to doubt your purchase and its contents.
Cannabis light abroad
We discovered that traveling in Italy with cannabis light is possible. But what happens if you have to take international flights? In recent years, many countries have legalized the consumption of cannabis and cannabis products, with and without THC, but in most countries around the world, air transportation of weed is punishable by prison time. In Croatia, for example, the possession of cannabis, both psychotropic and light, is punished with imprisonment from 3 to 15 years, based on the quantities and in some sub-Saharan African countries the possession of marijuana can also lead to punishment of death.
Our advice is this: taking international flights in possession of cannabis or CBD products is absolutely to be avoided.
In 2018 the Farm Bill - the US agricultural law - legalized industrial hemp andCBD , distinguishing between marijuana products containing THC and products containing CBD. However, the TSA – Transportation Security Administration – website still states that “possession of marijuana and cannabis products, such as cannabidiol (CBD) oil, is illegal under federal law” .
It is likely that the TSA has not updated its policies on its website, given that the agency's priority is to detect potential threats to passengers and crew, primarily looking for firearms and other weapons, not cannabis or CBD products .
However, you should know that the USA prohibits the transport of electronic cigarettes and vaporizers, which can only be placed in the hold for both international and intercontinental travel.
What about medical cannabis?
The TSA has also definitively prohibited the transportation of medical cannabis on all airline flights, including domestic ones. Many US airports, such as those in Denver and Las Vegas, have deposits available for cautious passengers who intend to leave their supplies on the ground before getting into trouble and bins to throw them away before encountering drug dogs. Canada also prohibits the import and export of medical cannabis to and from patients . Canadian citizens cannot even source their medical cannabis for domestic use abroad.
European states are not doing any better and are very far from having harmonious legislation on medical cannabis. If you have a medical prescription, you can travel abroad while carrying a 30-day supply of medical cannabis with you.
In the Netherlands, for example, patients being treated with therapeutic cannabis will have to go to a public office to obtain the necessary documents to be able to travel with their medicine, with which they will be able to cross a maximum of 4 countries in the Schengen area. Schengen Certificates must be signed by the GP, then approved by the Central Administrative Office (CAK).
In general, we advise you to contact the embassy of the country you are about to reach, to make sure you haven't done something wrong. According to a report by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), only “certified cannabis-based medicines” are considered legal. Nabiximols sublingual spray, Dronabinol capsules and Nabilone capsules, as well as five varieties of cannabis inflorescences from Bedrocan , are the only medical cannabis products authorized for carriage by European travellers.
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