Last updated: May 23, 2026 · By Compliance Carl, Senior Compliance Editor

The Transportation Security Administration's April 27, 2026 page update — which now lists medical marijuana as Yes (Special Instructions) in both carry-on and checked baggage — moved the federal picture. It moved the state picture by exactly zero. State and local police continue to enforce state criminal codes at the airport, and the federal Schedule III designation that took effect April 28 does not create a federal preemption that protects a traveler from arrest under a state-law possession offense. The variable that matters in 2026 is not the TSA page. It is the airport you land at.

The clearest illustration of the spread is the contrast between LAX and ATL. Los Angeles International operates under a written Los Angeles Airport Police Division policy that has, since 2018, allowed adults 21 and over to transport up to 28.5 grams of flower and 8 grams of concentrate through the airport's landside areas without arrest. Atlanta-Hartsfield routes cannabis discoveries to Atlanta Police Department officers who enforce Georgia's Controlled Substances Act, which classifies marijuana possession as a misdemeanor for amounts under one ounce and a felony above. Same TSA agent. Same TSA page. Same federal Schedule III posture for a state-licensed medical patient. Two completely different outcomes for the same product, same documentation, same patient.

The table below sorts U.S. airports into three groups by their 2026 enforcement posture. The grouping is operational, not theoretical — it reflects what airport police on the ground are doing, not what state law abstractly permits. We have walked the patient-side travel decision in our 2026 patient travel guide, and the news angle in our TSA Special Instructions explainer.

Permissive airports: enforcement de-prioritized

These are airports where airport police have either a written policy, an established practice, or a state-law framework that means compliant adults carrying state-legal amounts of cannabis through screening are very rarely arrested or cited. The federal Schedule III status of state-licensed medical product is, at these airports, mostly an academic question — the airport posture would have been the same whether the April rescheduling happened or not.

AirportStateState medical reciprocityAirport police practiceRecommended actionLAX (Los Angeles International)CaliforniaNo (but adult-use legal 21+)Written LAAPD policy permits 28.5g flower / 8g concentrate landside; airside is federal jurisdictionCompliant amounts in original packaging; declare nothing at TSASFO (San Francisco International)CaliforniaNo (adult-use legal 21+)SF Airport Police de-prioritize; no arrests for compliant amountsSame as LAXOAK (Oakland International)CaliforniaNo (adult-use legal 21+)Same posture as SFOSame as LAXSAN (San Diego International)CaliforniaNo (adult-use legal 21+)Harbor Police de-prioritize; compliant amounts passSame as LAXSEA (Seattle-Tacoma)WashingtonNo (adult-use legal 21+)Port of Seattle Police do not arrest compliant adultsCompliant amounts in original packagingPDX (Portland International)OregonNo (adult-use legal 21+)Port of Portland Police de-prioritizeSame as SEAORD (Chicago O'Hare)IllinoisYes (visiting-patient access; no transport)Cannabis amnesty boxes after TSA checkpoints; no arrests for compliant adult-use amountsDispose at amnesty box if uncertain; otherwise compliant amounts passMDW (Chicago Midway)IllinoisYesCannabis amnesty box after checkpoint; same de-prioritization as ORDSame as ORDBOS (Boston Logan)MassachusettsYesMassachusetts State Police de-prioritize; compliant adult-use amounts passState-licensed product in original packagingLGA (LaGuardia)New YorkYesPort Authority Police de-prioritize compliant adult amountsState-licensed product in original packagingJFK (John F. Kennedy)New YorkYesSame as LGA; large international terminal raises CBP risk for international departuresSame as LGA; do not bring on international flightsEWR (Newark Liberty)New JerseyLimited; adult-use legal 21+Port Authority Police de-prioritize; compliant adult amounts passState-licensed product in original packagingLAS (Harry Reid International)NevadaYes (visiting-patient access)Las Vegas Metropolitan Police de-prioritizeState-licensed product in original packagingPHX (Phoenix Sky Harbor)ArizonaYes (visiting-patient access)Phoenix Police de-prioritize compliant Prop 207 amountsState-licensed product in original packaging

The Denver quirk

Denver International Airport (DEN) belongs in its own category. Colorado has been adult-use legal since 2014 and has a robust medical program, but Denver International has its own airport-specific cannabis ban that prohibits possession, consumption, use, display, transport, distribution, and sale of cannabis on all airport property — including pre-security landside areas. The ban predates the TSA April update and is independent of state law. A traveler with state-legal Colorado cannabis in her bag is in violation of DEN's airport policy from the moment she enters the parking garage. Enforcement is uneven and citations rather than arrests are the typical posture, but the policy is on the books. Fly into and out of DEN without cannabis; purchase at a Colorado dispensary after clearing the airport.

Discretionary airports: program states without recreational

This group is the messy middle. The state has a medical marijuana program that — in the most-defensible reading of the April 22 DOJ order — produces qualifying state-issued licenses for purposes of the Schedule III carve-out. The state does not have adult-use legalization, or the adult-use program is so new the enforcement posture is still settling. Airport police enforce the state criminal code on adult-use possession, but the medical program is treated as a recognized exception inside the state. The federal Schedule III status of state-licensed product is genuinely relevant here, but the operational posture turns on the in-state patient credential and the in-state dispensary chain of custody.

AirportStateState cannabis postureAirport police practiceRecommended actionBWI (Baltimore/Washington)MarylandAdult-use legal 21+ as of 2023; established medical programMDTA Police de-prioritize compliant amountsState-licensed product in original packagingSTL (St. Louis Lambert)MissouriAdult-use legal 21+ as of 2022; medical program continuesAirport police treat compliant amounts as low-priorityState-licensed product in original packagingDTW (Detroit Metropolitan)MichiganAdult-use legal 21+; established medical programWayne County Airport Authority Police de-prioritizeState-licensed product in original packagingMSP (Minneapolis-Saint Paul)MinnesotaAdult-use legal 21+ (rollout in progress); medical programAirport Police de-prioritize compliant amountsState-licensed product in original packagingPHL (Philadelphia International)PennsylvaniaMedical-only program; no adult-usePhiladelphia Police enforce state code on adult-use; medical patients with cards generally passPatient card + state-licensed product in original packagingCMH (John Glenn Columbus)OhioAdult-use legal 21+ as of 2023; medical programAirport Police treat compliant amounts as low-priorityState-licensed product in original packagingMCI (Kansas City)MissouriAdult-use legal 21+; medical programSame as STLSame as STL

Prohibitionist airports: where patients actually get arrested

This is the group to take seriously. These airports route cannabis discoveries to airport police, and those airport police operate under state criminal codes that treat possession of any amount of marijuana as an offense regardless of the source-state legality of the product. A New Jersey medical patient with a card and a New Jersey-compliant THCA product who lands at one of these airports has, on landing, the same legal position as anyone else in the destination state carrying cannabis. The patient card does not travel. The federal Schedule III posture does not create reciprocity. Most of the cannabis-at-the-airport arrest cases that make the news come from this column.

AirportStateState cannabis postureAirport police practiceRecommended actionATL (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta)GeorgiaNo adult-use; narrow low-THC medical program; APD enforces state code at ATLActive enforcement; cannabis routinely cited or arrested under state codeDo not bring cannabis through ATL in any formDFW (Dallas/Fort Worth)TexasNo adult-use; narrow Compassionate Use Program; SB3 in litigationDFW Airport DPS / Texas DPS enforce state code on possessionDo not bring cannabis through DFWIAH (George Bush Intercontinental)TexasSame as DFWHouston Airport System Police / HPD enforce state codeSame as DFWMIA (Miami International)FloridaMedical-only program; no adult-useMiami-Dade Police enforce state code; recreational cannabis is a misdemeanorFlorida-licensed medical patients with cards may pass; everyone else does notMCO (Orlando International)FloridaSame as MIAOrlando Police enforce state codeSame as MIAFLL (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood)FloridaSame as MIABroward County Sheriff's Office enforces state codeSame as MIACLT (Charlotte Douglas)North CarolinaNarrow medical program; no adult-use; complicated hemp/THCA frameworkCMPD enforces state code; possession over half-ounce is a misdemeanorDo not bring cannabis through CLTBNA (Nashville International)TennesseeNo medical program; no adult-use; hemp-only intoxicating products in fluxMetro Nashville Police enforce state codeDo not bring cannabis through BNAMEM (Memphis International)TennesseeSame as BNAMemphis Police enforce state codeSame as BNABHM (Birmingham-Shuttlesworth)AlabamaNo operating medical program; strict cannabis posture overallBirmingham Police enforce state codeDo not bring cannabis through BHMJAN (Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers)MississippiMedical-only (narrow); no adult-use; possession remains arrestableJackson Police enforce state codeMississippi-licensed medical patients with cards may pass; everyone else does notOKC (Will Rogers World)OklahomaEstablished OMMA medical program; no adult-use; out-of-state cards not recognized for transportOklahoma City Police enforce state code on non-patient possessionOklahoma-licensed patients with cards may pass; everyone else does notRDU (Raleigh-Durham)North CarolinaSame as CLTRDU Police enforce state codeSame as CLTJAX (Jacksonville International)FloridaSame as MIAJSO enforces state codeSame as MIA

How to read the table if you are a patient

The single most important thing to take from the table is that the federal Schedule III status of your state-licensed medical product does not change your state-law exposure at the destination airport. A federal Schedule III rescheduling without an accompanying federal preemption — and the April order does not preempt state cannabis law in any form — leaves the state-law calculus exactly where it was on April 26. TSA itself has confirmed that its operational protocol has not changed.

The second most important thing is that the airport you land at is more determinative than the airline, the time of day, the bag size, or any TSA-side variable. A patient flying from Boston to Los Angeles has a fundamentally different risk profile from the same patient flying from Boston to Atlanta, even though the TSA-side experience at Logan is identical.

The third thing — and this is the part most patient-travel guides downplay — is that airport police, not TSA, are the enforcement actor that matters. TSA finds cannabis. TSA does not arrest. TSA refers, and the airport police officer who responds applies the state code. The variation between airports is variation in airport police posture, not variation in TSA posture.

Connecting flights and transit considerations

A traveler whose itinerary routes through a prohibitionist airport — a Boston-Atlanta-Tampa itinerary, for example — has connecting-airport exposure that is not obvious from the origin and destination alone. Cannabis discovered in a checked bag at the connecting hub is typically routed to the airport police at that hub. The route through ATL is, for cannabis-carrying patients, the route that matters even if neither end of the itinerary is in Georgia. Itineraries that route through prohibitionist hubs should be re-booked or treated as no-cannabis trips.

International connecting flights add CBP exposure. Puerto Rico is a special case because flights are domestic but the destination's medical program does not honor most mainland cards. Japan, China, and most Middle Eastern destinations impose criminal penalties on inbound cannabis travelers that are substantially more serious than any U.S. state outcome.

A short documentation checklist for the discretionary group

For airports in the discretionary group, where the conversation may turn on whether a patient can credibly demonstrate Schedule III medical compliance, the documentation list is the same one laid out in the patient travel guide: state card or registry ID, original child-resistant dispensary packaging, dispensary receipt, and for FDA-approved cannabis pharmaceuticals, the original pharmacy bottle. Carry the documentation; pack the product in carry-on so the conversation happens in real time at the checkpoint; do not transfer product to non-dispensary containers.

For airports in the prohibitionist group, no documentation will reliably help. The state criminal code applies regardless of source-state credentials. The right move is to leave product at home.

What to do if it goes wrong

If cannabis is discovered at a prohibitionist airport and you are detained, cited, or arrested under state code, the situation is a state criminal matter that requires state-licensed criminal defense counsel. The federal Schedule III status of the product is a fact you can raise, but it is not a defense to a state possession charge. Our Cannabis Lawyer Directory indexes attorneys by state; getting representation before any statement is given to police is the standard recommendation.

If product is confiscated without arrest at a permissive airport, recovery is generally not possible — the product is gone. The conversation ends and you board your flight. For airport-specific recovery procedures (where they exist), contact the airport's police division directly.

The bottom line

The TSA April page change is real and is not the variable that matters at the airport. The variable that matters is the airport's police division and the state criminal code it enforces. The permissive-airport group is where the patient travel experience is closest to what the April change implies. The prohibitionist-airport group is where it is exactly the opposite of what the April change implies. Both groups exist inside the same federal framework. The variation is at the state and city level, and the variation is what determines outcomes.

For state-by-state regulatory backgrounds at major patient destinations, see our state legality pages — New Jersey, Alabama, North Carolina, Michigan, Wyoming, and others.

This guide is editorial and does not constitute legal advice. State and federal cannabis law moves quickly; verify any specific question with counsel admitted in the relevant jurisdiction.