Traveling with medical marijuana

[MarBee]

Hello,
I hope this is the right forum to post this. A friend of mine has Stage 4 colon cancer. She uses medical marijuana daily to help with the effects of chemo and the pain. She lives in Pennsylvania and has a medical marijuana card. They would like to take a Disney trip. I know that medical marijuana is legal in Florida but it seems like there is no way to legally fly from PA to FL with it. She is in no shape to drive that long ride.

Is there a way for her to transport her medical marijuana to Florida? Is there another way for her to get it? I should stress that she needs it daily, so a wait beyond a few hours would not work for her. They are planning a 7 day trip if that matters.

Thank you in advance for any help/advice!

 

[SteveMouse]

Unfortunately, your friend may have some issues.

Florida does not have reciprocity with other states regarding medical marijuana. You have to have a Florida medical marijuana license to use/access marijuana for medical use in Florida. To get a Florida license, you must be a minimum of a a temporary resident, which I believe is at least 31 days residency in the state.

Importing (moving) marijuana from one state to another state would qualify as drug trafficking, which is a federal offense.

I hope you can come up with a solution that works for you.

 

[MarBee]

Thank you for the info! Unfortunately I don’t think she’d be able to go without it. I feel awful she won’t be able to go to Disney with her kids.
Hoping there’s some other solution, although it doesn’t sound like it.

 

[rigs32]

Driving it across state lines is just as much of an issue, if not more, as flying with it.

 

[MarBee]

Driving it across state lines is just as much of an issue, if not more, as flying with it.

I honestly don’t think she’s in good enough shape to take the 20 hour drive, even if it’s over a couple of days. Very sad situation.

 

[Mleach]

The reality of this is just to conceal it, assuming it's the edible type. We travel with a kiddo who has a big bag of meds that we take through TSA (because of course you shouldn't check meds that are so hard to replace). The TSA opens everything over 3 oz but mmj oil is usually in a much smaller quantity and it's never been called out or opened. I would just tuck the little bottle or baggie of gummies or whatever it is into your carry-on and not worry about it. I don't want to take up space here but the TSA released an instagram post about it (we're not looking for and we don't want to find it) and there is a New York Times article where the spokesperson says the same thing ("we're not actively searching for marijuana"). Be discreet and my bet is she will be fine.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

There is no good answer for this while it's still an legality issue between states and the federal government.
personally, i would not want to risk being arrested and detained while on a family vacation. bringing it along would be considered "interstate trafficking" which is a BIG BIG BIG deal. Not worth the risk!

 

[RogueX]

My grandmother died from late stage colon cancer and I remember the pain she was in. Federal charges for drug trafficking are not something your friend wants to be dealing with in addition to cancer.

 

[Mleach]

I got a couple feedback (angry and sad) so I looked up some info about the Philly international airport, which I assume is the departure airport. There was a USA Today article about their policies. In the year of 2018, 12 total passengers were caught with mmj by the TSA. 12! Out of millions and millions of passenger throughput. All 12 were turned over the police, each was given a civil citation and their mmj was confiscated. That is the sum total of the consequence for those 12 people. On the Orlando end, there is absolutely no enforcement of mmj on arriving passengers so there is no way it would be found. If she is really concerned, simply don't fly home with it since her license isn't valid in Orlando. However, Orlando has decriminalized marijuana up to about an ounce, meaning the punishment for possession is, again, a ticket for $100. Make sure she doesn't bring it into a theme park though because that is definitely not allowed.

It's what I would do, and what I have recommended for my own grandmother, who also relies on marijuana as well. She is 90 and it has made a huge difference in her life.

edit : no one is charging people with drug trafficking for carrying personal quantities of mmj. It's just not a thing. I'm no lawyer but I believe trafficking has to be with intent to distribute.

 

[lanejudy]

I'm sorry your friend is going through this illness. Unfortunately, if she really wants to be at WDW she should probably speak with her medical team about alternatives for the duration of her trip.

Closing this thread as DISboards doesn’t condone breaking WDW rules or federal laws.