Group says pot is answer for 'air rage'

DENVER, June 25 (UPI) -- Aviation officials have nixed a suggestion from a Denver group to establish airport pot-smoking lounges as a strategy to reduce "air rage."

The proposal from the group SAFER, Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation, came two days after U.S. Attorney Troy Eid declared in Denver that repetitive drunken behavior by some commercial airline passengers is posing a growing threat to public safety and must be stopped.

Eid made the comments as he tried the case of a woman accused of punching an airline attendant, screaming curses and shouting racial slurs while aboard a JetBlue flight last week, the Rocky Mountain News said.

SAFER's Mason Tvert says the answer to air rage is a joint at the airport.

"This madness has got to stop and we're providing a very viable solution," he told KMGH-TV, Denver.

A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said, "Until such a time when marijuana is a legal drug, the answer is no. Plain and simple."