More cannabis seizures at New York airports

Police at Albany International Airport and other major New York State airports will no longer arrest, ticket or seize travelers for possession of small amounts of cannabis (less than 3 ounces or 84 grams).

This new policy is one of the consequences of the recent New York legalizes cannabis for adult use.

According to Bart R. Johnson, former colonel of the State Police and current federal security director for 15 upstate New York airports, «We don't seize [cannabis]. We simply look for threats - explosives, knives, firearms; we don't look for illegally possessed narcotics.»

On the contrary, if a suspected illegal substance is discovered during a threat-related contraband search by TSA agents, «we inform law enforcement».

Agents of the TSA, a federal agency, are required to inform local law enforcement when they encounter an illegal substance, and cannabis remains federally banned. But cannabis has been legalized in New York, and Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said that if a passenger is found to be carrying cannabis, officers will take no further action unless the amount of cannabis appears to exceed the state's three-ounce possession limit.

«We're not taking any more,» Craig Apple told Times Union. «It's legal if it's no more than three ounces and, well, have a nice day».

The move follows similar policy changes in other post-prohibition states. In 2018, Los Angeles LAX officials announced that the airport would allow cannabis possession by travelers. Las Vegas did the same for out-of-state travelers.

Last January, Chicago's airports set up so-called «cannabis amnesty» boxes (mansety box) where travellers can deposit the cannabis they were carrying before passing through security.