United States: the Transportation Security Administration now allows some CBD products on planes

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA)—a U.S. federal agency created after 9/11 to ensure aviation security—has recently changed its policy regarding cannabis. The agency now allows the transport of certain CBD products, but not all of them.

CBD While Traveling

While the agency previously prohibited the transport of any cannabis-derived products, its website now states that CBD products may be transported, either in the cargo hold or in the passenger cabin, «under certain conditions.» This policy change is likely due to the passage of the Farm Bill, which legalized hemp at the federal level.

«Products and medications that contain hemp-derived CBD or are approved by the FDA are legal as long as they are produced in accordance with the regulations set forth in the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (the Farm Bill).» explains a section of the website.

However, the TSA clarifies that this new policy applies only to CBD products derived from hemp—and therefore containing less than 0.3% of THC—or to products authorized by the FDA—as referenced in Epidiolex, approved by the FDA in June 2018.

However, it is unclear how the agency plans to implement this new policy and distinguish between CBD products derived from hemp and those derived from cannabis. It would need field tests to measure the presence of THC, but with such a low threshold, this is extremely complex.

The DEA had also issued a request for proposals to create a test that would be capable of performing this task. An American company responded. That said, the validity of the method used is controversial. The FDA must still decide on the future of CBD food products. A company that could take years according to the agency's former director.

As for medical cannabis, it is not legal at the federal level and therefore cannot be transported by air. «It doesn’t matter whether cannabis is legal or not under local laws; that is irrelevant to the TSA because it operates under federal law. Federal law provides no basis for treating medical cannabis differently from non-medical cannabis,» the agency wrote in 2017 after «accidentally» authorizing the transport of medical cannabis.