You Are Now Able To Fly With Your Weed Through LAX

These are high times for smokers. It is officially legal to fly out of LAX with marijuana. Los Angeles International Airport has just upgraded its public marijuana policy to allow flyers to travel with legal amounts of cannabis.

LAX’s new policy was posted on its website and reads: While federal law prohibits the possession of marijuana (inclusive of federal airspace), California’s passage of proposition 64, effective January 1, 2018, allows for individuals 21 years of age or older to possess up to 28.5 grams of marijuana and 8 grams of concentrated marijuana for personal consumption. In accordance with Proposition 64, the Los Angeles Airport Police Department will allow passengers to travel through LAX with up to 28.5 grams of marijuana and 8 grams of concentrated marijuana. However, passengers should be aware that marijuana laws vary state by state and they are encouraged to check the laws of the states in which they plan to travel.

What many travelers probably didn’t know was that this rule has actually been in effect since January 1 of 2018 when California legalized recreational use of marijuana. Los Angeles Airport Police spokesperson Alicia Hernandez confirmed you won’t be punished for having your ganja. “Based on our policy, we’re not going to arrest you or confiscate marijuana,” said Hernandez. However, flyers still have to abide by federal laws; currently, marijuana isn’t legal in all of the United States. Which means, while it is legal to fly through LAX, travelers still have to get past U.S. Transportation Security Administration agents at LAX.

“We are two different entities,” Hernandez said. “TSA can deny you coming through the checkpoint. The checkpoint is their jurisdiction,” said Hernandez. At the end of the day, LAX wants to focus on bigger issues than flyer’s weed. “TSA’s focus is on terrorism and security threats to the aircraft and its passengers,” TSA spokesperson Lorie Dankers said in an email, adding that “TSA’s screening procedures, which are governed by federal law, are focused on security and are designed to detect potential threats to aviation and passengers.”