SEATTLE, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Although airline passengers are prohibited from carrying marijuana on their flights, some screeners allow it, a spokesman for a pro-marijuana group said.
Even though Washington and Colorado allow marijuana possession, the Transportation Security Administration notes on its website if "a substance that appears to be marijuana is observed during security screening, TSA will refer the matter to a law enforcement officer."
While it remains illegal in practice, Keith Stroup, founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told the website Lawyers.com TSA has allowed passengers to travel with their marijuana.
"I hear reports from people flying from one medical use site [locations where marijuana for medical purposes is legal] to another, or flying from one part of California to another, and they generally report that if they carry their authorization, they simply show the letter. The same policy should apply for Colorado to Washington or Washington to Colorado," Stroup said.
Some screeners at Seattle's Sea-Tac Airport are ignoring the possession of marijuana, KIRO-AM, Seattle, reported Tuesday.
Despite the anecdotal evidence cited by Stroup, carrying marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
"If you're traveling interstate [in possession of marijuana] you're breaking the law," said Allison Holcomb, the Washington state drug police director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
