Adult-use cannabis is legal in California and adult-use cannabis is legal in New York.
And the law enforcement officers TSA agents summon are almost always local police or sheriff’s deputies, who enforce state law, which in California and New York says small amounts of cannabis are legal.
Which is why authorities at Los Angeles International Airport are putting a new, aggressive spin on an old, crude, but effective tactic: threatening passengers carrying cannabis, this time with arrest and federal charges, in order to scare them into self-policing.
Earlier this year, new signs appeared near security checkpoints at LAX.
But according to defense attorneys who specialize in cannabis criminal cases, there hasn’t been any recent change in policy or surge in arrests.
People manage to sneak through quantities in the pounds, packs, “all day, every day,” Kroger added.
And barring some unforeseen national shift that would prove vastly unpopular with a majority of the public who support legalization, this will not change.