Recently, a woman was banned from a cruise line after CBD gummies were found in her luggage. Do airlines, cruises, and hotels have a duty to enforce US cannabis laws?
If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support LiveAndLetsFly.com.
If you haven’t followed us on Facebook or Instagram, add us today.
Woman Banned From Cruise Line After CBD Gummies Discovered
Prior to boarding a Carnival cruise in Florida, a woman was stopped at security for the discovery of nail clippers which led security staff to investigate further.
“Van Veldhuizen, a frequent cruise passenger, had been trying to get through security at the Port of Miami in August when she was stopped by agents after X-rays detected nail clippers in her suitcase, according to The Washington Post. While searching her bag, agents found CBD gummies and pulled her aside, per the outlet.” – People
This is fraught with issues throughout.
It’s important to note that this did not happen on the ship but rather at the port. Most ports (including all airports but one terminal at JFK which is privately held) are federal property and thus federal laws apply, not that of the state in which they are located. It was security that made this discovery but if that’s on federal land, it is subject to federal law. The involvement of the ship’s Captain, who has incredible rights at sea but few on shore, seemed to be looking for a way to let the passenger travel, though the report noted that police had been involved following the discovery.
“The captain asked me several times if I had a marijuana card or if I had a diagnosis, if I needed it. I said, ‘It’s CBD; that doesn’t exist. It’s just not a thing,’ ” she said, adding that her family also opted not to go on the cruise without her.
Soon after, she received a letter from Carnival saying that she was banned from all future cruises with the company. The letter, which she shared with WPLG and The Washington Post, stated: “This decision was based on your actions on the current cruise, which were in violation of ship rules, interfered with the safety and/or enjoyment of other guests on the ship or caused harm to Carnival.” – People
Do Travel Companies Have To Enforce?
Following the incident, Carnival, the world’s second largest cruise line (including subsidiaries), has made it clear that it restricts the use of both marijuana and CBD products onboard. However, CBD in particular is either conditionally or fully legal in all 50 states, and federally legal when derived from hemp. No state requires a medical card or prescription for CBD as it doesn’t contain intoxicants, and persons requiring CBD products that exceed the maximum intoxicant standards would be more likely prescribed medical marijuana. Carnival is able to do what it likes and can enforce as it sees fit.
The question is whether travel companies have to enforce US law, and the answer is no. If a client is staying in a hotel, flying on an airline, renting a car, or taking a cruise, they commit the crime and not the travel provider.
Hotels have looked the other way when it comes to marijuana use, even when that violates state laws against smoking indoors. In some cases, it’s possible hotels may ban customers who use marijuana on their property even in states where it’s legal as federal bans remain in place. But they aren’t generally going through someone’s luggage at check-in and calling the police over benign gummies.
Airlines have it easier. Because all airports are federal and marijuana remains illegal federally, it’s not really the airline’s problem. Banning someone smoking onboard would apply whether it were cigarettes, a cigar, or a joint. However, even on a secondary inspection at the gate, it would be TSA and police that would discover and enforce law, not the airline. Making a ban later would be the prerogative of the carrier, but it wouldn’t really get the attention that this incident has because the airline isn’t the one finding the CBD at all. Additionally, most (though not all) flights cross state lines which increases penalties and severity of the infraction. Cruises, however, mostly occupy international waters.
Should They Enforce?
I’m not a cannabis user but CBD is generally agreed to be non-habit forming, and will not inebriate a user. If a company like Carnival chooses to follow the strictest interpretation of the law and apply the broadest brush in its approach, there’s a case for that being the best plan. But Carnival, like the airlines should leave the discovery and enforcement to legal authorities.
Can you imagine the outrage if Enterprise wanted to go through your things before you rent a Dodge Dart? Or if the Courtyard by Marriott front desk staff asked you to empty your pockets before handing over the keycards?
It puts companies like Carnival in a precarious position too. Even for those who don’t use CBD products or marijuana, is Carnival going to start rifling through your bag over a nail clipper only to discover something else they banned that wasn’t illegal but the passenger may not have known about? What if you have an embarrassing prescription, or anything else you wouldn’t want staff to discover – is that good for shareholders?
In the example of this traveler, if the policy is “no CBD or marijuana” why would the captain bother asking for a medical card? If the policy is the policy, then it doesn’t matter if they are approved in their home state to carry and use the product anyway, right? Simply by asking, the captain implies that had she produced documentation, she might have been allowed to travel with the product against policy.
Conclusion
I’m neither a user of CBD nor marijuana but it seems overly strict that the cruise line would ban her for life for carrying something onboard likely legal in all 50 states. The reasoning the cruise line gave includes interfering with the “safety and/or enjoyment of other guests on the ship” and while that could have been true for marijuana with THC, it’s hard to find a situation where CBD would be the same.
What do you think? Should travel companies enforce cannabis bans? Was Carnival wrong in this case?
Question is too broadly worded, “travel companies.”
The real question is about cruise lines. They do gave a unique responsibility to ensure illegal drugs (under federal law) don’t make it on their vessel and can be subject to heavy fines if they are found on board by US Coast Guard.
Of equal concern for cruise lines is the time it takes for US CBP to clear a ship to disembark. They sweep the vessel before allowing passengers off, and the cruise lines turn these ships around in tight timeframes. They risk going off schedule/having to burn more fuel sailing at a higher speed to make it to the next port if everything doesn’t go smoothly. Simple put, they play it conservatively to avoid delay, hassle, and cost.
Finally, the cruise line wants you buying their booze to get a buzz on. This is one major unstated reason that they confiscate alcohol. Also being high on green makes you hit the free buffet harder lol.
No one has to enforce anything. That’s just an excuse evil people use to deflect from the fact that they are the ones 100% culpable and responsible for their actions. Every cop, agent, or etc ignore someone speeding, not wearing a seat belt, having drugs, or having guns regardless of what gun control says. Laws are just words and opinions. Those who use physical force choose to enforce them. Politicians just use words. It’s the cops, agents, and scum like these or flight attendants who have manufactured authority who do the physical actions. Just following orders is not an excuse when you can ignore the orders and none are the wiser.
Challenge of the week. Try and find a place on a Carnival Cruise that doesn’t reek of weed. Their customer base is smoked up 90% of the time and those that don’t smoke are still high from 2nd hand smoke.
Its the Spirit of the seas and that’s probably an insult to Spirit.
Really a cruise line doesn’t allow nail clippers? Something doesn’t add up.
So the cruise line encourages unkempt, ugly, overgrown nails on their cruises?
Count me out…..
The 4th amendment always applies… Bar none. Companies can do as they choose, but they have no more legal obligation to report their perception of a crime than does a driver on a highway witnessing another car going 1mi over the speed limit.
While on the subject of non THC CBD has anyone used this for crankiness? Just asking for a friend that owes a lot of apologies. Apparently prayer and meditation are not working.
Also being banned from Carnival is not the end of the world. Probably they will open a weed store at the international water line.
If all airports were federal, wouldn’t the feds be the ones to make arrests not local police? Wouldn’t the charges be federal, whereas those who commit crimes at airports are currently charged with state crimes?
Carnival Cruises, like Spirit Air and Fox Rent-A-Car are all sleezeball “bottom of the barrel” travel corporations that the general public should avoid patronizing at all costs, unless you really love to be disappointed…
#CancelCarnival #LegalizeDrugs #RegisterToVote
Cruises operate internationally and marijuana products are illegal in most countries and illegal to take across international borders even in places where it is “legal”. Why would a cruise line want the liability of customers using their vessels to smuggle drugs? Although unlikely, I don’t think carnival would want to risk having their ship impounded to make a subset of customers happy nor do they probably want the vessels smelling of pot and alienating customers who don’t imbibe.
Btw it really isn’t legal anywhere in the US – it’s just that states don’t care or prosecute anymore – just like states needn’t prosecute kidnapping, bank robberies, counterfeiting money, child porn, and other crimes because those are federal crimes. .
What I find funny is that nail clippers are banned. Would love to know the reasoning.
Ditto re: nail clippers. What’s up with that?
The issue with cruise lines is that it might be legal (decriminalized) for cannabis use in a place like Washington state but it could be illegal in other ports of call. It’s also a federal crime and they don’t want to risk losing the ability to dock at US ports (that may be controlled by federal authorities) since they are mostly foreign-flagged ships. In addition, the ship may be flagged in a country where cannabis is illegal. None of this even addresses the federal funding or loan issues or federal mediation, etc.
The me, the main issue with cannabis is the people who smoke it ruining hotels and cruise ship cabins with the smell. Like a return to smoking hotels of the 1980s. Gross.
@ted poco nail clippers aren’t banned but nail scissors or clippers that have knives on them are. They can be used to injure people or property is the reason. I think it’s a bit picky.
One thing I think your article missed and that many the ships stop at several foreign ports. İn many of those countries, the drug laws are really strict and can lead to the ship bring seized if the foreign countries government found that those products were on the ship.