Part of Cannabis and consumers
If you plan on flying with marijuana or under the influence, use common sense.smileitsmccheeze/ISTOCK
The sky’s about to get friendlier for recreational marijuana users in Canada. When the Cannabis Act comes into effect on Wednesday, travellers will be allowed to carry up to 30 grams of marijuana in either their checked luggage or carry-on bag.
It’s a new reality all airplane passengers are going to have to get used to, regardless of whether they use marijuana, so it’s best to keep a few points of etiquette in mind.
First, know the law. Passengers are only legally permitted to carry cannabis with them when they are travelling within Canada.
“Taking cannabis or any product containing cannabis across the Canadian border will remain illegal, whether it is for recreational or medical purposes,” Christine Langlois, a spokesperson for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, said in an e-mail.
Even if you are flying between jurisdictions where cannabis is legal, from Toronto to Denver for example, you’ll still be breaking federal law.
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What about travelling with vaporizers? You won’t have to leave yours at home, but don’t put it in your checked luggage. They are currently permitted as carry-on baggage only and are prohibited from being used on board. You also have to remove the batteries.
If you plan on flying with marijuana or under the influence, use common sense. Just like someone who’s had a few too many drinks can get kicked off a plane, people who are stoned don’t have a free pass to behave any way they want.
“Similar to alcohol, WestJet is prohibited under the Canadian Aviation Regulation from allowing a guest to board an aircraft where there are reasonable grounds to believe the passenger is impaired by alcohol or drugs to an extent that they may present a hazard to themselves, the aircraft, guests and crew,” Morgan Bell, a spokesperson for the airline, said in an e-mail.
You may think stoners are too mellow to pose any problems on board a plane, but troubling incidents have occurred in the past. Last year, for example, a 23-year-old man on board a Delta flight from Seattle to Beijing who consumed a marijuana edible before takeoff was arrested for assaulting flight attendants and passengers, and trying to open an exit door.
If you’re not sure how you’ll behave under the influence during a flight, maybe don’t be under the influence to begin with.
If you’re the mellow sort and decide to go ahead with it, ask yourself: Am I that chatty stoner who won’t stop talking no matter how uninterested everyone else is? If your seatmate seems clearly bored with your disquisition on the Grateful Dead, give them the peace and quiet they deserve, says David Bienenstock, a California-based author, journalist and host of the podcast Great Moments in Weed History.
The other most important point of etiquette, whether you have weed in your carry-on or enjoyed a pre-flight joint, is the smell. Some love the strong aroma that marijuana produces, others find it offensive. So do what you can to eliminate or minimize the odour.
“That could be [putting it in] a glass jar that’s tightly sealed, that could be vacuum sealing it,” Mr. Bienenstock says. “Wash your hands," he adds.
But, remember, etiquette works both ways. Passengers who catch a whiff of cannabis on the plane and find themselves tisk-tisking or getting their backs up about it should remember that many people use the drug to deal with anxiety and other medical conditions.
“People should be understanding that for a lot of people this is for medicinal use,” Mr. Bienenstock says.
Of course, even when it’s being used for recreational use, we’re all just going to have to deal with, he adds.
“Just because it used to be illegal doesn’t mean you get to be judgmental about it.”
Dave McGinn